


Gabriel: Recovery

by Ink_To_Paper



Series: Gabriel [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Difference, Alpha/Omega, Anal Sex, Character Death, Dubious Consent, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Humiliation, Kidnapping, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Past Abuse, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rimming, Self-Worth Issues, Slut Shaming, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2019-07-05 01:02:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 50,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15853041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_To_Paper/pseuds/Ink_To_Paper
Summary: Gabriel's saga continues.Commander Haiden O'Neil struggles to locate the mass murderer known for kidnapping and slaughtering young, blond Omegas. Upon finding the killer, he can't believe what else he uncovers.Book two in a trilogy.





	1. Prologue - Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel's saga continues.

**Prologue: Blood**

The Omega sat bolt upright in bed panting. His skin was flushed and he felt slightly nauseous. Head spinning, he looked around but nothing seemed out of place; his mates were on either side of him. Still, the Omega mewed in distress as he wiped a hand across his forehead and brushed back the curls sticking to his face.

“Shut up,” one of his mates said and swatted at him before rolling over and going back to sleep.

The slap stung, but the Omega barely felt it as he took a deep breath and lay back against the pillows, trying to ignore the odd sensations coursing through his body.

His other mate, the scary one, grunted and the bed sheets rustled. “While you’re awake you might as well make yourself useful.”

A large hand shoved the Omega under the blankets into the sweltering heat between his mate’s thighs. Obeying orders, the Omega slowly licked and swirled his tongue around the tip of his Alpha’s cock until it hardened in his mouth. He then tongued at the slit for a moment before sucking the entire rod down his throat. His Alpha grunted again as he fisted the Omega’s hair and shoved his head closer to his groin.

Accustomed to such treatment, the Omega went limp and focused on working his throat around his mate’s cock. His hands were slick with sweat as he toyed with his Alpha’s balls, rolling them between his fingers. His Alpha groaned deep in his chest and came inside the Omega’s mouth.

The Alpha’s hand didn’t release the Omega’s head, but he didn’t complain when the Omega let the cock slip from his lips to lay against his cheek as he continued to pant. He grew hotter and hotter with each passing second. The dark hair on his mate’s thighs and groin were itchy against the Omega’s overheated flesh.  

Something was wrong. Something was really wrong and the Omega was too dazed and confused to understand what was happening to him. He wasn’t even aware of the tears that had started to drip down his cheeks until his Alpha started cursing.

“What the fuck?” the sheets were thrown back and a rough hand palmed his face. “Why his he cry-,” he broke off and started again. “Why is he so hot?”

His other mate rolled over and flicked the light so he could peer down at the Omega’s face. His blue eyes were cold and devoid of emotion as he took in the flushed cheeks, tears and snotty nose.

“Something is wrong,” he finally said, and climbed out of bed, disappearing into the bathroom.

The Omega continued to lie in between his scary mate’s thighs even though his body felt as if it were going to suddenly combust into flames. He wanted to get as far away from his mate’s body as possible; he wanted to crawl closer until he was one with his Alpha.  

“Is it his Heat?” his scary mate asked, his voice excited but tinged with doubt and perhaps the tiniest bit of concern.

Neither of his mates liked him all that much, the Omega knew, even though they had no problem fucking him on a regular basis. The Omega had been a virgin before mating his Alphas, and wasn’t sure if all matehoods involved as much sex as his did. His moms had said he was too young to know about sex and Heats and Alphas. Something in his gut told him that his matehood wasn’t normal. But it was all he had left in the world and everything in his body screamed at him to submit and obey his mates in an attempt to seek their happiness. Maybe if they were happy they’d stop being mean to him? 

He whimpered as his other mate suddenly injected a clear liquid into his arm. It stung at first and then his entire body started to grow cold. The Omega shivered violently; he wished for some of the internal heat to return.

“No,” his blond mate finally said as he cast aside the syringe.

“Then what the fuck is wrong with him?” his scary mate said, his voice filled with uncharacteristic fear. “Travin?” he was practically pleading now.

A loud sound of flesh on flesh filled the room. His aloof mate had hit his scary mate. 

Wow, the Omega thought. He wouldn’t have thought his scary mate would tolerate such behavior from the other, smaller Alpha. But his scary mate seemed to cower away from the Omega’s more aloof mate, shrinking away from the bed.

Holding a hand up to his cheek, the dark-haired Alpha grumbled, “I don’t know why it’s such a big deal. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”

The blond Alpha didn’t respond as he continued to stare at the Omega who’d started to sob desperately. He was so cold and it hurt so much.

“He’s rejecting the medication.”

Scary Alpha started cursing again, but aloof Alpha just glared. The Omega didn’t understand what was happening, all he knew was pain and the fear of rejection. Crying out, he reached for his blond mate, hoping the Alpha would comfort him even though he hadn’t before.

Only this time the Alpha didn’t swat him away, he pulled him into his arms and carried him into the bathroom where some of the chill was chased away but a warm bath and gentle hands cleaning him inside and out.

He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, he was outside. The Omega hadn’t been outside in so long; a couple weeks at least, not since before he’d been mated.

It wasn’t a comfort though, as one of his mates climbed inside the cabin of the roller and the machine fired to life. The Omega’s distress and pain grew as his Alpha drove him further and further away from their mated home. The Omega didn’t even have the energy to lift his head to see if his scary mate was watching them leave.  

As much as he fear the dark Alpha, he feared being without him more.

Hours blended into days as the pair traveled through the nights far away from their mated home. The Omega grew worse and worse until he was nearly catatonic from the physical pain and lack of response from his present mate and the absence of his other Alpha. He hadn’t been fed, not that he could have kept it down, and only been given water after begging his mate until his voice gave out. 

Finally, they stopped and his mate drew him into his arms. The Omega closed his eyes and concentrated on the smell of his Alpha and the feel of his arms. His mate would protect him; he would make the pain go away. The walked and the Omega dozed, his nose pressed against the bare chest of his mate.

The next thing the Omega felt was a sharp pain. His eyes flew open in shock as his mate ripped out his throat with his claws. The Omega choked to death on his own blood as he watched his mate walk away from him without looking back.


	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel:Recovery is vastly different than Gabriel: Captivity. The world is much more open and I’ve introduced an entire host of new characters. This book is also significantly longer than book one, to the point where I considered splitting it into two parts. Ultimately, I decided to stick with one, much longer sequel. 
> 
> To make transition between the two books smoother, each chapter in Gabriel: Recovery will be accompanied by a note with a description or tidbit of information that aides in understanding the story line. These notes will appear at the beginning of each chapter and are made up of old news stories, current news headlines, or doctor’s notes.

**PART ONE - REGRET**

**Chapter One: Arrival**

_Doctor’s Notes: Alphas are predispositioned from birth to be protective of Omegas.  Being the dominant sex provides Alphas superior strength combined with a highly developed sense of preservation for Omegas and their young. While protectiveness is measured on a sliding scale, Alphas who violate the normal range are the exception and increasingly few and far between. Alphas with this behavioral anomaly often drive themselves insane and die at young ages._

 

The horrible Alpha was barely outside before Chuck had whipped out the store phone and called his girlfriend’s number. Her father answered immediately.

“Is he still there?”

“No,” Chuck said as he hurried to lock the store’s front door and flipped the sign to closed. “I tried to keep him waiting as long as possible but he started to head for the door so I had to come out and ring him up. I stalled as much as I could, but… he just left.”

Beth’s father growled and Chuck shivered. He turned and headed for the back room where he could watch the security feed to make sure the Alpha didn’t come back.

“Sorry, kid.” The Alpha said and softened his tone, although traces of angry Alpha lingered. “Did you see which direction he went?”

“Actually, I did one better.” Chuck explained as he re-locked himself in the security office and pulled up an electronic screen. “I stuck my mobile inside of the heating lamp box. I’m tracking his location now.”

Beth’s dad choked. The noise sounded like he was stuck between shock and fury.

“Sorry, I know you said not to do anything stupid and wait for the police… but I couldn’t resist the chance when I saw it.” Chuck wasn’t sorry in the slightest, but he hoped Beth’s dad couldn’t pick that up in his voice over the phone.

“You… you did good, kid.” Beth’s dad said slowly. He’d never really approved of Chuck, but he apparently didn’t hate him enough to want him to get killed by the savage Alpha who’d abducted Gabriel Latham over a year and a half ago.

Chuck shivered. He’d only been fourteen at the time, but remembered feeling cold every time the blurry images of the Alpha’s face appeared on screen. All of his classes had been forced to watch the news broadcast several times and his Omega health club had brought in a specialist to talk about how to look out for and empower other Omegas. The entire thing has pissed Chuck off; shouldn’t they be teaching Alphas not to fuck with Omegas and to stop other Alphas from being dicks instead of blaming Gabriel for getting kidnapped?

He knew it was incredibly rare for Alphas to turn on Omegas... but still!   

Both his Alpha mother and his Omega mother had even taken to checking in on him multiple times throughout the night for months after Gabriel had gone missing. Neither had ever said anything to Chuck about the missing teen, other than to remind him to never talk to strangers and to stick with other Omegas after dark.

It hadn’t mattered that Chuck didn’t look anything like the beautiful Gabriel Latham; all that had mattered was he was roughly the same age, gender and sex. Chuck had researched the other boy on his own and been struck at how easily it could have been him, or one of his friends, who’d gone missing.

“Um, Sarg,” Chuck said quietly.

“Yes, Chuck?” Sergeant Cooper sounded distracted.

“There’s something else I think you ought to know.” Chuck paused and took a deep breath. “He came in here for a heat lamp, like I told you.”

“Yes, Chuck, we’ve got that written down,” the Alpha’s voice was gentle but he clearly wanted to focus his attention on other matters.

“Well, that’s not all he bought.” Chuck stopped against before forcing himself to keep going. “He also got a set of newborn clothes. Ones with little cows on them.”

“Chuck-”

Chuck cut Sergeant Cooper off. “I asked him if they were a gift and he got really mad and suspicious until I told him I could gift wrap them.”

“It was incredibly stupid to put yourself in danger by conversing with him, Chuck,” Sarg said with a sigh. But he seemed to be paying more attention to Chuck’s story.

Not any stupider than putting his personal mobile inside of the Alpha’s box so he could track him, Chuck thought, but whatever. If the Alpha wanted to be cranky about his brilliant detective work, then that was on him.

“What I’m saying Sarg, is that he said it wasn’t a gift. And when I told him the cows were cute he smelled, well, he smelled proud, just for just a second. But I’ve worked in this store long enough to know what it meant. Sir,” Chuck started to cry. “I think his Omega is pregnant... But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t Gabriel’s kidnapper!”

Sergeant Cooper paused and then said slowly, “Chuck…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Chuck hastily wiped at his eyes. “I’m telling you, Sarg,” Chuck insisted. “That Alpha has a pregnant Omega, and if Gabriel is still alive, he could still be with him!”

Silence greeted his proclamation.

“Or,” Chuck added and his shoulders drooped. “Gabriel is already dead and he already took another Omega. Someone older.” He hadn’t thought of that before. He’d always been so convinced that because they’d never found his body that Gabriel was still alive.

Sergeant Cooper’s intake of breath was audible as Chuck heard something ruffling around in the background.  

“Chuck,” Sarg repeated softly.

He wasn’t a bad guy, he just didn’t approve of his daughter’s choice in Omegas and had made that abundantly clear ever since walking in on them in Beth’s room in the middle of… uh.

Chuck couldn’t really blame him. He knew damn straight Beth was a zillion miles out of his league! But she loved him, for now at least, maybe once she went off to academy she’d meet fancier more worldly Omegas. But until then, Sergeant Cooper was stuck with Chuck just like Chuck was stuck with the Sarg.

“All I’m saying Sarg, is that whoever that Alpha is holding, whether its Gabriel or not, he’s knocked some poor Omega up.”

The sergeant paused for so long that Chuck was beginning to think he wasn’t going to answer. Finally, he sighed and said, “Look, I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but it’s well believed within the Safety and Security community that the serial murder is likely mated.”

“Oh,” Chuck said, his heart sinking.

“The Omega Slasher got his name because he’s clawed out the throats of most of his victims.”

Chuck inhaled sharply. He was an idiot and might skip most of the Omega health club meetings but even he knew Alphas could only release their claws when mated and even then only during the mating ritual or when their Omega was being threatened.

He, along with pretty much every other civilian, had always assumed the Omega Slasher’s title came from the slashing of the throats with a knife… not with his Alpha claws.

How could anyone use their Alpha claws to rip out a helpless Omega’s throat? It didn’t make much sense to Chuck, but he supposed that was why he wasn’t a Safety and Security officer.

“Oh,” he repeated in a small voice. “I was really hoping they would find him.”

Sergeant Cooper sighed again; he did that a lot around Chuck. “Yeah, I know, kid. The entire nation was hoping we’d find him. Alive, even. But it’s been, what? Almost two years? And…”

“People just don’t come home after all that time, I know.” Chuck muttered as he wiped away more tears.

It was terrifying to think about Alphas abducting young, vulnerable Omegas off the streets. It didn’t happen very often and when it did it usually ended quickly because most Alphas weren’t actually capable of holding Omegas in captivity, let alone causing them harm. Most cases ended with the Omega turning up at a local hospital and the Alpha in prison or dead, often from self-inflicted wounds.

But Gabriel’s case was different because he’d been tied to a serial abductor and murderer, the likes of which had been unheard of in centuries of studies and research. The missing and dead Omegas had been making news for years, but Gabriel’s disappearance had rocketed the case into a national spectacle.

“I’m only tell you this because I don’t want you trying to insist something ridiculous, like it’s Gabriel who’s pregnant, or something equally stupid, when the National Safety and Security guys show up, okay? If you think the Alpha’s mate really is pregnant, that’s good information. Especially if the nationals decide to stage a raid.”  

“Okay,” Chuck said and then heard a pounding on the front door.

“Chuck?” Sergeant Cooper asked, concerned.

Chuck didn’t answer right away as he checked the security feed. Relaxing he replied, “Yeah, it’s just the officers you sent. I’m going to go let them in.”

“Be careful, Chuck.”

“Ah, you worried about me, Sarg?” Chuck asked in his usually teasing voice, trying to pretend that everything was going to be all right.

“Yeah, kid, I really, really am.” The honesty and fear in his voice scared Chuck.

His smile disappeared as he hurried to open the front door for the five heavily armed Alpha officers, all of whom reeked of fear. They entered the store, weapons drawn, despite Chuck’s attempts to reassure them that the killer was gone.

Once they’d made sure themselves, they became a bigger nuisance and started to grill him about the incident. Chuck only tolerated it because he was scared out of his ever-living mind. He was only mildly pissed when he was forced to turn over the password of his phone so the officers could track it. Chuck was sure he’d never again be welcome at Sarg’s house after he was given Chuck’s ever so slightly raunchy password to track a serial killer.   

XXX

The call came in the late afternoon. Commander O’Neil had just opened a takeout box from a local restaurant and was digging in when his personal desk line beeped. Sighing in frustration – he never got to eat his food while it was warm – he allowed the connection.

“Go.” He said brusquely, not bothering with niceties.

“Uh, hi. Is this the officer in charge of the Gabriel Latham case?”

O’Neil rolled his eyes. He already knew this tip wasn’t going to go anywhere based on the uncertainty in the other Alpha’s voice. He also knew that the other man wouldn’t have been able to connect to his desk without going through several channels of administrators and therefore already knew the answer to his idiotic question.

Gods, he was so done with this shit.

Rubbing his temples, he finally said, “Yes, this is Commander O’Neil.”

“Hi, commander. This is Sergeant Cooper with the Brickton office of Safety and Security.” He paused and O’Neil nearly cut him off but decided to fill his mouth with food instead; he didn’t bother to mask the noise of his chewing. “I have information about Gabriel’s case.”

“Go ahead,” O’Neil said wearily as he shoved a second piece of oily chicken into his mouth, followed by a bit of noodle.

“A local boy, uh Chuck, he’s actually my daughter’s boyfriend, um, he, uh,” the Alpha wasn’t making much sense and was wearing O’Neil’s nerves thinner with each passing breath.

“Let me guess,” he cut the other man off. “He claims to have seen Gabriel and is insisting on a full search of the neighborhood?” O’Neil snorted and went to end the connection when the other man didn’t reply immediately.

“No.” Sergeant Cooper said firmly, and something in his tone made O’Neil pause, halfway to dropping the line.

“What then?” he snapped and returned the earpiece to his shoulder.

“Chuck saw the Alpha, the one from the media broadcasts. The one no one could find.”

O’Neil dropped his fork and spun to face his monitor. “Brickton you said?”

“Yeah,” the other Alpha wasn’t stammering now that he had O’Neil’s full attention. “I’ve sent officers to bring Chuck into the station for protective detail.”

“Good. Make sure there are unmarked Alpha officers present at all Omega-heavy locations but otherwise fall back and make sure not to alert the Alpha that anything thing has changed. If he’s local we don’t want him to be scared off, but we also don’t want him abducting anyone else if that’s his goal. Have you identified any possible targets in your community? Omega boys approximately between the ages of fourteen and twenty with blond hair.”

“Yes and yes. There’s a huge event happening at the school tonight, otherwise the town is pretty quiet. I’ve got most of my Alphas stationed there and have set up monitoring systems at all of the exits. If he tries to take any of our Omegas, we’ll stop him” The sergeant’s voice was dark.

“Good, good,” O’Neil said, his attention split between the man on the phone and the group message he was trying to send to his team to alert them of the development in the case. “How confident are you in Chuck’s testimony?”

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat, but for once O’Neil waited patiently. He’d wasted his team’s time before and needed to know if this was worth sticking his neck out over.

“He called me, commander. That kid is terrified of me and probably hates my guts. And he called me… terrified. I believe him.”

“My team will be in Brickton before midnight,” respond in lue of commenting on the reliability of Chuck’s testimony. “Be prepared to fully debrief us then, Sergeant Cooper.”

“Got it, commander. But there’s something else you should know before you go.”

“Yes?” O’Neil stopped everything else and listened to the Alpha; his gut was telling him this next bit of information was important.

“The kid slipped his mobile into the box he sold the Alpha… and we’ve been tracking his location. Assuming he doesn’t discover and ditch the mobile, we’ve got him.”

“Don’t fucking move.” O’Neil’s outburst shocked him, but he continued, “Don’t go anywhere near him. Do you hear me, Cooper? This Alpha is extremely dangerous and we can’t afford to loose-”

Cooper cut him off. “Of course, commander. I just thought you should know that this kid’s mobile is still in that box and I’m worried about what’s going to happen when that Alpha finds it.”

O’Neil paused and considered this potentially lucky break. “Chuck an Alpha?” O’Neil asked carefully as he sent a second message to the pilot of the fastest jet in the fleet.

“No, an Omega.”

O’Neil nodded. “Blond? Petite?”

“No,” Cooper breathed out, sounding relieved. “He’d a scrawny little thing who’s too tall, too skinny and has too much dark hair. He ain’t even that cute.” The last bit was muttered under his breath and sounded more like the remark of a perturbed father than a reporting officer of Safety and Security.

Still, the Alpha’s description of the Omega was a relief. At least this Chuck wouldn’t be the Alpha’s next victim. He had a very specific type.

“But Chuck did get a bit lippy with the Alpha and I’m… yeah.” Cooper continued and then trailed off.

“Cooper,” O’Neil couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Did Chuck find out anything useful when he was conversing with the possible suspect?”

Cooper hesitated but then said, “Yeah. He’s pretty sure that there’s a pregnant Omega involved. The Alpha was buying a heat lamp and some newborn clothes. Chuck works at a pup care store,”

O’Neil continued to listen without interrupting. In the background his screen flashed with a stream of messages from his team. He ignored those as well, trusting his number two to handle it.

“He said the Alpha... well, anyway, he said the Alpha smelled of fatherly pride. It’s something he smells a lot from new parents or upcoming parents. I thought I should mention that since-”

“Since you’ve heard the rumors of Alpha claws being used to rip open the throats of previous victims.” O’Neil said and scrubbed his hand down his face. He’d managed to keep that detail out of the media, despite the moniker leaking, but the closely guarded info had somehow slipped through the cracks into the Safety and Security community.

“Yeah, and to prepare your team for possible innocents.”

O’Neil shook his head. “I don’t buy for one minute any Omega mated to this monster is innocent.”  

“Perhaps not… but the baby is.”

Considering this, O’Neil asked, “You’ve got a daughter, you said?”

“I have four daughters.”

“Good,” O’Neil said, realizing how useful Sergeant Cooper would be when dealing with a newborn. “Husband or wife?”

“Wife,” Cooper responded, sounding unsure as to why that would matter.

Cooper pursed his lips. If Cooper had experience with a pregnant male Omega it would have been better, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and experience with four delivers was better than nothing.

He continued without answering Cooper’s unasked question. “My team and I will be there soon. Call me on the jet phone or my personal mobile if you have any more information.”

O’Neil passed along the codes before reluctantly hanging up. He needed to pack up and get to the hanger but was torn about letting Cooper go; O’Neil had worked with dozens of local Safety and Security officers. With cases like this they often resented the presence of nationals or grew arrogant, hoping to move up the ranks.

Gods, he hoped Cooper was neither type. He needed this situation to work out. Needed to make it safe for every single one of the pretty, blond, boy-Omegas in Brickton, because right now they were all potential victims.

 

The National Safety and Security Council jet land roughly against the dirt runway of Brickton’s local airway two hours later. The landing strip wasn’t used to dealing with passenger planes, only communication vessels, but it couldn’t be avoided. The next closest runway was over an hour drive away and time was of an essence.

O’Neil launched out of the plane and jogged toward the waiting roller. His team of fifteen highly trained officers hot on his heels. Brusquely, O’Neil greeted the wide-eyed kid who’d been sent to pick them up.

“Commander O’Neil?”

“Yes, and you are?”

“Uh, Cody. Cody Fisher.” The kid said and ran a hand down the back of his neck. “Sergeant Cooper sent me.”

“Take me to him. Now.” O’Neil said, leveling his cool gaze on the young Omega’s face.

“Right this way, sir. Uh,” he glanced back at the rest of the team. “I’ve only got room in my roller for six, including me. Two more, bigger vehicles are coming. I just got here first.”

“Neeva, Kirkpatrick, Cain and St. Clare, with me.” His best officers hopped into the vehicle and Cody fired up the engine.

When the kid’s pace didn’t quicken once they reached the main road, O’Neil glanced over at him. “You can go faster. I promise we’re not going to arrest you,” he added a light edge of teasing to his tone to soften his words.

Cody blushed. “Right, sir.” He said and the roller picked up speed. His eyes darted in O’Neil's direction until he realized he was being watched and then his gaze remained fixed on the road.

O’Neil stared hard at the Omega, which only seemed to make him blush harder. He was young, but probably not young enough, and had light brown hair instead of blond. Still, he was too pretty for his own good and Cooper should have known better to send him out on his own considering the current circumstances. He was too close to the killer’s type for comfort.

O’Neil let his own eyes return to the road. The Omega was safe with him now; a crazed psycho killer would have to get through him and his team before he hurt anyone else.

Within twenty minutes Cody’s roller arrived at the Brickton office of the Safety and Security. O’Neil, trailed closely by the first part of his team, headed inside where he came face to face with one of the largest Alpha he’d ever seen. The man was a beast, broad chested and tall with a gut that spoke of a hefty appetite.

He was also leaning aggressively over some scrawny Omega and all but growling as he barked orders at him. The Omega didn’t appear all that frightened, possibly because he was curled into the side of stunning Alpha, who was also extremely tall, as she glared up at her father.

“Sergeant Cooper,” O’Neil said. It wasn’t a question.

“What?” the Alpha barked and spun on his heel aggressively. His posture immediately relaxed as he saw the five national officers standing in front of him. “You’re here,” he said simply and glanced up at the clock.

“Yes, we made record time.” O’Neil strode forward and offered a hand. He didn’t miss how the other Alpha stepped in front of his offspring and her boyfriend until his large frame blocked both. The protective gesture was likely unconscious, and spoke mounds about the burly Alpha’s true character. “Commander O’Neil.”

“Pleasure,” Cooper remarked distractedly as he stepped aside. “And this idiot is Chuck.”

“Hey!” the Alpha snapped and flashed her teeth. “He’s not an idiot! You’re all here because of him!”

“Very true,” O’Neil said as he stepped forward and offered his hand to the pair of teenagers. Cody had given him some very interesting information on the ride over to the station.

The girl didn’t move, but Chuck reached out and took his hand.

“Chuck, I’d like to hear exactly what you know.” He didn’t drop his gaze or his tight grip on the boy’s hand; if this kid was lying, O’Neil would know in the next couple of minutes.

Dark brown eyes met his own with an inner strength he didn’t find surprising. A young Omega would have to have nerves of steal to date one of Cooper’s offspring. It just meant he’d be harder to break, if it came to that.

“I’ll show you to a conference room,” Cooper said and took Chuck by the arm. “You, stay here.” He said and pointed a finger at his daughter as he dragged her boyfriend away.

The girl didn’t look happy, but she didn’t protest as she took her seat. Her eyes never once leaving the slender form of her Omega boyfriend until he was dragged out of sight.

O’Neil’s eyes ran over her. Blond hair, the right age, but the wrong build, gender, and sex. Good. One less person to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted weekly, on Saturdays.


	3. Suspicion

**Chapter Two: Suspicion**

_Breaking News Archive: a body has been discovered near the Oakville Burial Grounds outside of Granger. Sources have confirmed that the victim is_ _seventeen_ _years of age with blond hair and is most likely an Omega. This marks the_ _third_ _fatality attributed to a serial killer we have decided to call_ _the 'Omega Slasher_ _.'_

“I don’t really know what else you want me to say,” Chuck said and fidgeted in his seat. He was tired and hungry and really wanted to curl up in bed with Beth at home surrounded by the comforting scent of his moms.

One of the National officers, Neeva, rubbed his back soothingly. He leaned into her touch; it reminded him of his Omega mom.

“Do you remember what his roller looked like?” she asked, her voice like melted honey.

Chuck closed his eyes and thought for a moment, but ultimately shook his head. Opening his eyes, he peered across the table at Commander Cooper and Sarg. “No, but I’m sure you’ll find it when you track my mobile.” He glanced back up at the Omega officer and insisted, “I told you, I put it in the heat lamp box.” He must have said those exact words a thousand times already.

She smiled at him and continued to stroke his back.

He sighed and looked down at his hands. His fingernails had dug deep crescents into his palms. They’d been over the story a dozen times and Chuck was getting tireder by the minute.

When would this be over? Why were they spending so much time talking to him instead of searching for the Alpha who had taken Gabriel? Could he go home yet? Chuck was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted after the exchange with the Omega Slasher and with Cooper and now with these National S&S folks.

“Chuck, we tracked the mobile to the abandoned lot out passed the Parker ranch.” Sarg. said slowly. “Are you sure you didn’t just…” he trailed off, searching Chuck’s face.

Chuck frowned, not sure what he meant.

“The sergeant is asking if you made the entire thing up to get attention.” The commander’s cool gaze flickered to Sarg. “Or perhaps to make Sergeant Cooper look foolish to get back at him for his disapproval of your relationship with Beth.”

Chuck’s eyes had filled with tears when he’d heard the first part of the accusation, but with the second half, the weight of the day slammed down on him. “I wouldn’t do that,” he said, using his eyes to plead with Cooper before turning to the only other Omega in the room. “I wouldn’t do that to Gabriel… or another Omega. I just wouldn’t!”

“Okay, sweetie,” she said and rose, drawing Chuck up with her. “Why don’t we go find a room where you can go lay down.”

Cody watched them leave the conference room before slipping back inside with a handheld clutched tightly in his fingers.

“I want to go home,” Chuck said, aware that his voice was pitched to a whine. Gods, he was such a baby.

“I know you do, but it’s not safe. Your moms came here to the station instead.”

Chuck perked up as they exited the main office and walked back toward the back of the Brickton S&S station. It had felt like he was being marched to his doom after making supposedly false accusations; but if his moms were here, he didn’t care if the commander and Sarg. didn’t believe him. His moms would; Beth believed him; and if Chuck wasn’t mistaken, so did the Omega steering him toward the leadership quarters.

Chuck had never been back to this part of the station himself, but Beth had told him once that her dad and the other station leaders had private bunks in the back part of the station for when cases ran long. She’d also said they were rarely used, because let’s face it, Brickton wasn’t a very dangerous place, and her dad only ever slept there when her mom was really mad at him.

Sure enough, inside of a small, yet comfortable room that stank of Sarg., was a narrow cot. On it sat his moms and his girlfriend. The all smiled and the room filled with the comforting scents of home and love.

Chuck all but collapsed into their arms. He hoped to never speak to another serial killer again.

XXX

“Do you believe him?” Cooper asked, his knee bobbing up and down.

“It’s not really for me to judge.” O’Neil said coolly. He was furious. This entire situation was a nightmare.

Cody handed him his handheld digital reader and he swiped the screen. The Omega teen’s mobile hadn’t moved in the last hour.

O’Neil rubbed at his eyes in frustration before stabbing at the screen. “What’s the password for his device?”

Cooper turned bright red, flew to his feet, and crossed to the far end of the room, “Tell the commander the password to Chuck’s mobile.” He ordered without turning around.

A harried Cody appeared at Cooper’s elbow and offered to type the password into his handheld. His hand brushed O’Neil’s and he withdrew sharply, causing the Omega to jolt backward.

“No, just tell me what it is.” O’Neil said brusquely, growing increasingly irritated by the second. “What?” he demanded when the Omega mumbled the answer. “Speak up.”

“Uh, the password is ILUVBETHSBOOS, in all capitals.” Cody wasn’t looking at O’Neil, but rather at his sergeant who was very deliberately not looking in their direction.

O’Neil cleared his throat. He really didn’t have time to deal with this. “Is there an apostrophe?”

“Um, no. And love is spelled ‘luv.’”

Sighing, O’Neil pushed his handheld at the Omega, careful not to touch him this time. “Type it in.” He really should have just let the kid do that to begin with instead of over reacting to the brush of soft flesh against his own.

Checking the screen, O’Neil saw the same information as two minutes ago, before he’d logged out and logged back in. Sickened with the waste of time and resources, he tossed the digital reader onto the table.

“How did you not know this kid was messing with you?” he asked Cooper, his voice tired and devoid of his earlier frustration.

Even for a local officer, this was a really bonehead move. But in the end, O’Neil blamed himself. He couldn’t believe he’d been desperate enough for a lead on the Omega Slasher case to fall for this bullshit. For the gods’ sake, Gabriel Latham’s disappearance was, for all intents and purposes a cold case, even though it had too much national attention to receive that title officially. But the Omega Slasher case had grown so cold… and O’Neil was desperate to end things.   

Cooper had the guts to turn and face him before he answered. “I don’t know. He seemed so scared. It wasn’t until after I’d called you and you were in the air that anyone thought to look closer at the tracker on Chuck’s mobile.” The other Alpha ran a palm down his face and fell heavily into a chair. “Even then we weren’t sure what to do until one of the guys with a private roller thought to drive by the Jenkens ranch and realized there was nothing there.”

O’Neil leaned forward. “You’re absolutely certain there’s nothing out there.”

Cody, who O’Neil would like to say had gone unnoticed in the corner, piped up, “James swears up and down he didn’t see anything. He even took a pair of the night long-range lenses I ordered for our station a couple months back.” Cody’s tone and prideful smirk in Cooper’s direction suggested that the lenses had not been well-received, probably because they took up a huge chunk of what O’Neil could only guess was Brickton’s tiny budget.  

Cooper shrugged, doing a better job of ignoring the smug little shit than O’Neil would have, and said, “Old man Jenkens died a while back and his nephew never showed up to claim the land. It’s several hundred acres of private property where kids sometimes go to make out or hook up.”

“A perfect place to stash a mobile in order to make a fool out of a despised girlfriend’s Safety and Security officer father.” O’Neil said, his tone cruel and cutting.

Cooper stared at him. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?” O’Neil asked and leaned forward again. “Your gut is telling you something, what is it?”

Cooper shrugged his shoulders but didn’t look away. “I still believe him. I know it seems impossible, but I still believe he thinks he saw what he says he saw… Maybe,” Cooper took a deep breath. “Maybe the fucker caught wind of the planted mobile and ditched it in the first place he drove by.”

“That part of the ranch is close to a well traveled road?”

Cooper wouldn’t make eye contact that time and it took him almost a full minute to answer. The silence hung heavy until he mumbled, “No. To get to that part you’d have to know the local countryside well. Our officer didn’t even drive far enough into the property to get to where the mobile is located.” Cooper’s gaze shifted to Cody. “But he did scope it out using a pair of those expensive ass lenses.”

Cody’s smile nearly blinded O’Neil. He pursed his lips and deliberately shifted his chair so he wouldn’t be looking at the Omega. Not that every other sense wasn’t keenly tuned into the kid’s every motion.

“But the man from the Latham footage isn’t a local? No one has seen him around Brickton before?”

Cooper flushed deeper and just shook his head. He didn’t have any answers.

O’Neil pursed his lips again and glanced away. Deep in concentration and self-castigation, he barely noticed when Neeva slipped back into the room. There was at least one Omega he wasn’t finely tuned to monitor.

“Boss?” she asked after several minutes of heavy silence.

O’Neil looked up and was surprised by the determination on her face. “You too?”

Neeva, his best officer, nodded. “Yeah. That kid’s not lying. I don’t know if the killer ditched the phone or what, but we’ve got to get out there and check it out.”

O’Neil shook his head. “No, it’s far too large of a space to cover overnight. We can’t afford alerting him and risking him escaping into the darkness if he is indeed there.” His eyes shot daggers at Cooper. “It was dangerous enough to send a local officer out to scope out the area.”

The other Alpha shrugged; it was his territory and, while O’Neil was annoyed at his initiative, he couldn't really fault the other Alpha for taking a risk to protect his people.

Ignoring his last remark, Neeva suggested, “Aerial?”

O’Neil thought about it for a moment. Aerial at night was risky, not to mention dangerous. But on the off chance that it was all true… “Let St. Clare know.”

Neeva smiled but didn’t say a word as she slipped outside. It was no wonder why she was his best officer.

 

Within minutes, a grinning St. Clare had loaded his favorite drones into the back of another local officer’s personal vehicle. An Alpha this time. O’Neil had refused to let Cody leave the station.

That proclamation hadn’t gone over well. The Omega hadn’t backed down, insisting he knew the area better than any other officer. It wasn’t until O’Neil roared in his face that Cody finally gave in and stormed off in a huff.

The hour that followed was tense, but when St. Clare returned with a grim look and a handful of photos, the mood shifted to uneasy excitement as Cooper, Neeva, and O’Neil stared at the images collected from the nighttime aerial scanner.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” Cooper said, visibly shocked.

Before them lay several pages of scans that clearly showed an underground structure, most likely a bunker.

“How many years ago did you say Jenkens died?”

“Ten or twelve, somewhere in there.”

“Before the killings,” O’Neil mused as he picked up one of the photos. “And the place has been abandoned ever since?”

“Yeah, kids will sometimes go out there on dares or to hook up, but even then they mostly stick to the abandoned main house, which is fairly close to the main road.”

“Why don’t they ever venture farther out?” Neeva asked before O’Neil could voice the questions spinning in his brain.

Cody, over his pouting session from earlier, piped up from the sidelines, “No one goes passed the main pasture ever since Bronwin lost her foot in a vermin trap. Most people didn’t go as far as she did that night, but… she was really drunk and wandered off.”

He was speaking from experience. That combined with his early insistence, O’Neil suspected the Omega had probably been one of the hooligans who’d wreaked havoc out on the property. He was young enough, and too cocky for his own good. Damn kid.

Cocking an eyebrow, O’Neil asked, “How was she discovered if no one ever goes out that far?”

Cody shrugged. “Simian found her and brought her to the hospital.”

“Why was Simian out there?” O’Neil deadpanned.

At the same time, Neeva questioned, “Did anyone go out and inspect the trap? Or alert the property owner about the incident?”

Cooper answered this time, all but ignoring O’Neil’s comment. He was obviously more affected by O’Neil’s earlier rebukes than he’d let on. “We just spread the word to avoid the place after calling Jenkens nephew. The man threatened legal action against the station and Bronwin’s family for trespassing. Everyone, including my predecessor, backed off. Trespassing is a serious crime in these parts.”

That was true. Rural towns like Brickton didn’t have to deal with many crimes, but trespassing and theft were two of the biggest and therefore harshest prosecuted.

O’Neil pursed his lips, but it was Neeva who frowned and asked, “Has anyone met the nephew?”

“No, as far as we know he’s never been to the property.”

“Simian?” O’Neil pushed, irritated that he was still waiting for an answer.

“He’s a local mechanic slash handyman, he lives above his shop on the edge of town. He’s quiet and mostly keeps to himself,” Cody offered softly.

“When did me move to town?” Neeva asked.

At the same time O’Neil demanded again, “What was he doing driving around the property in the first place?”

Cooper glanced back and forth between the pair before answering Neeva’s question first. O’Neil gritted his teeth and let him speak.

“He moved to town about nine years ago, maybe ten. He’s been a model citizen, if quiet. He doesn’t really socialize but he’s highly recommended for his work. I, uh, don’t know what he would have been doing out at the Jenkens place.”

Neeva and O’Neil made eye contact. This was almost too easy. “You got a picture of Simian handy?” O’Neil asked.

Cooper shook his head. “No, but I can describe him. Alpha and tall.” O’Neil’s entire body clenched. “But with dark hair and dark eyes. I’ve personally met him and he’s not the guy from the bar tape. I would have recognized him two years ago if that were the case.” Cooper probably hadn’t meant to sound as defensive as he did.  

“I never said he was,” O’Neil replied, his muscles releasing as he stood. “But I do think we need to have a word with him. Care to send one of your officers with my team to call on him?”

Cooper shifted. “Um, we can try. He used to work almost every single day, but a couple of weeks ago he put up a sign saying he was working a big project and wouldn’t be able to take anything else on. The sign didn’t given an end date and I’m not really sure if that project is in town or not.”

O’Neil met Neeva’s eyes; they definitely needed to get ahold of this Simian.

“Cody,” Cody jerked to attention and it took every ounce of restraint O’Neil had not to groan. “Gather up anyone who has ever interacted with Simian. I want to know more about this Alpha.”

The Omega smiled brightly; O’Neil’s gut clenched and his cock twitched. Cody’s smile widened, as if he could somehow tell from across the room that O’Neil was hard and horny for his ass.

Perhaps O’Neil was just projecting in a time of great stress. Fuck, if this lead turned up empty his entire career was fucked. O’Neil watched the local Omega’s ass as it sashayed out of the room. His career might be fucked, but it wouldn’t be the only thing fucked before O’Neil left Brickton.

 

Another hour passed before the report about Simian’s place came back; it was clear that Simian did not in fact live above his shop. During that time, O’Neil and Neeva had interrogated several officers who’d used Simian’s services over the last decade.

All of them assured the National S&S team that Simian was harmless and friendly, if a bit on the slow side, but fantastic with his hands. Several of the officers were even Omegas, and claimed that Simian hadn’t treated them any differently because of their sex. He’d always been respectful and kind if a bit shy.

O’Neil was sick of hearing the small town bullshit and was grateful to listen to the factual report from one of his team.

“That apartment above the store is empty, boss, and it has been for a while. Possibly forever. There’s no sight that anyone has ever stayed in this apartment and it’s currently full of boxes of junk and extra supplies from the store below.”

“Smells?” O’Neil asked.

“Negative for traces of Omega beyond the public areas. If he’s a part of this, the victims weren’t being held here recently.”

“And the store itself?” Neeva clarified.

“It’s been used, a lot, but it doesn’t look like he’s been there in a few weeks or been working on anything since then either. None of the smells are fresh. No scent of cleaners or de-scentors either.”

Turning to Cooper, O’Neil asked, “Has he disappeared like this before? For long periods of time?”

Cooper shook his head. “No, he’s taken a few vacation days here and there, but never weeks at a time.”

O’Neil processed the information. Off the top of his head, he didn’t know of any Omegas fitting the general description of the victims that had gone missing in the last month. But even then, if he hadn’t taken time off before why would that suddenly change?

It didn’t mean it was impossible, but it also didn’t explain the Alpha’s odd behavior and suspicious presence close to the underground bunker where Chuck’s cell phone was still pinging. After all, when a serial killer arrived in town, everyone was a suspect.   

“Thank you, St. Clare. Return to the station at once.” O’Neil said and ended the call.

“Now what, boss?” Neeva asked, her voice soft and dangerous.

They’d never explored the possibility of an Alpha co-conspirator; Alphas who committed crimes against Omega always acted alone or with their similarly sick-minded Omega mates. But there was no denying that something fishy was going on with Simian, the well liked but mysterious Alpha.

O’Neil glanced at the clock. It was just after three in the morning. No one was going to be happy with the next orders. “Now it’s time to wake the town.” He turned to Cody and Cooper. “Send officers to collect any local builders or construction managers. Electricians and plumbers too. Anyone who could have helped build an underground bunker on the Jenkens property.”

The two local officers exchanged a look before Cooper started barking orders and the local officers started scrambling.

“Oh, and Cody,” the Omega turned. “If you try to leave this building, I’ll go ahead and let you know that my entire team is under orders to restrain you at which time you’ll be handcuffed to a fucking chair, got it?” O’Neil said through a savage baring of his teeth.

Cody stared at him blankly for a moment and O’Neil thought maybe the idiot kid was going to challenge him, but he was surprised with the young officer instead gave a curt nod.

“Of course sir, I’ve already spread the word that all Omega officers under the age of thirty are to remain inside.”

O’Neil’s mouth parted but nothing came out as the cocky Omega turned on his heel and darted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted weekly, on Saturdays.


	4. Underground

**Chapter Three: Underground**

_Doctor’s Notes: Alphas are somewhat solitary by nature. Whereas Omega often form close bonds with other Omegas, Alpha prefer to refrain from close intimacy with anyone their mates. While friendships with Omegas or other Alphas occur, close bonds between two Alphas are rare and usually the case of neglect or abuse during childhood._

 

After almost two hours of interviews with cranky locals, O’Neil was feeling the stress of sunrise draw closer and closer.

“Boss, we need to start making some decisions.” Roderik said softly as he sat down across from O’Neil in the conference room that had become the headquarters of their impromptu rescue mission.

“You find anything from the electrician?” Roderik shook his head but from across the room Neeva responded.

“I found something from the plumber!” O’Neil focused on Neeva as she continued. “The local plumber has only been working for the last couple of years,” O’Neil wanted to wave her on to more important details, but knew she couldn’t be wasting his time with backstory unless it was vital. “But he was able to get the plumber he apprenticed with on the phone. That man has since retired and moved away, but he did remember that – about fifteen years ago – an Alpha brought some project plans to him for a plumbing system in an underground bunker.”

Roderik sucked in a breath and even O’Neil could feel his heart pounding.

“Can he describe what he remembers of the plans?”

Neeva slowly shook her head and O’Neil’s stomach dropped. Then she grinned and this time the floor seemed to drop away as O’Neil’s head started to spin.

“He thought the bunker system was so interesting that he made a copy of the layout while the Alpha wasn’t looking. He seemed rather ashamed of his actions until I told him he very well might be responsible for saving innocent lives.”

O’Neil didn’t even bother to correct Neeva about the terminology of ‘innocence’ before asking, “Where’s the plan?”

“Right. Fucking. Here.” Cody said as he burst into the room and slapped out an over-sized print out of a blueprint. “You were asking about the bunker plans, right?” he whispered in O’Neil’s direction when the room stayed silent after his rather dramatic entrance.

“Yes, Cody, I was,” O’Neil said as he awkwardly patted the Omega on the back and started to best and worst case run scenarios in his head based on the bunker’s plans.

 

“Commander O’Neil?”

“Yes, Sergeant Cooper.” O’Neil acknowledged as he stared at the second set of ground penetrating images of the underground bunker. This was going to be a difficult operation.

“Commander, with all due respect, we can’t go in there guns blazing.”

“Exactly how many _hours_ have you been on this case, Cooper?” O’Neil asked, his voice edged.

Pausing, Cooper admitted, “I know I haven’t been on this case as long as you have, commander, but I trust Chuck’s instincts.”

“Ah, yes, therein lies the problem, Sergeant Cooper. We’re relying on intelligence from your _daughter’s boyfriend_ , who claims to have smelled, how did he put it, ‘fatherly pride’ on the suspect when he was in the store.”

Sergeant Cooper had bristled at O’Neil’s tone. “Look, commander, I don’t like that little twerp anymore than you do. But the only reason we even found this bunker was because he was dumb enough to stick his mobile inside of the heat light box. He could have stayed locked in the security office while officers raced to the scene. Which is what I told him to do.” The accompanying growl demonstrated he was still mad about the Omega’s disobedience. “But instead, he risked his own life and confronted the Alpha in an effort to help us try and track him down. We’d never have found that bunker if we hadn’t known exactly where to look.”

Cooper paused, his large knuckles white with tension.

“I trust his instincts. I trust him, and it’s because of him that we have a chance to bring Gabriel…” he hesitated when confronted by O’Neil’s glare. “Or another innocent home. But not,” he gestured wildly at O’Neil’s team in the background who were outfitting themselves for battle, “If we go in guns blazing.”

Gabriel is dead, was what O’Neil wanted to shout at Cooper. But he refrained. The other Alpha didn’t know what O’Neil and his team had long ago accepted as the truth. The only Omega in that bunker was mated to a monster, be that Simian or someone else. And if Simian was wrapped up in all of this, which O’Neil was fairly convinced he was, there was no way he was innocent of wrongdoing either.

Cooper continued, “Regardless of what Chuck inferred from his interaction with the Alpha, the fact is that he was shopping in a baby supply store and bought items for a newborn. That’s conclusive evidence of an innocent pup somewhere on the property.”

“Your protests are duly noted, Sergeant Cooper.” He turned to glare at the other Alpha. “I promise you, if a victim is still alive inside that bunker, nothing will stop me from bringing him home.” He paused and then added. “And if there is indeed a pregnant Omega, or a newborn pup, my team and I will take the utmost care that no harm comes to the child.”

O’Neil could tell Cooper still wasn’t happy about the situation, but there wasn’t anything he could do. National S&S outranked every local office. This was his case now and it had been since the moment Cooper called him.

“Look,” O’Neil said gently and placed a hand on Cooper’s shoulder. “I requested your presence on scene because if there is a pup, we’re likely going to have to separate it from the Omega parent. At least until we can be assured he is innocent of his Alpha’s offenses.” O’Neil didn’t believe that was the case for a minute, there was too much evidence of a partner in all of the crimes. But he wasn’t going to share that information with Cooper at this time.

“But until we know for sure, you’re our highest ranking officer with children of his own. I will be placing the pup in your care. Do you think you could handle that should the need arise?”

The Alpha’s chest puffed out until his impossibly large frame filled the small space that O’Neil had claimed as his office. The space had been Cody’s office and reeked of his presence. Not that the scent had anything to do with why he’d chosen this space.

“I can do that,” Cooper said, drawing O’Neil’s attention back to the conversation at hand.

“Good, I’m counting on you.”

O’Neil turned back to the charts in front of him as soon as Cooper had left. He only had a few minutes of peace before the team assembled and he joined them in the main office. It was mostly O’Neil’s own officers, with a handful of local officers who would circle the perimeter while his team breached the bunker. O’Neil was dissatisfied to see Cody was among the gathered officers, although he didn’t appear to be dressed for engagement with enemy targets.

“We’ll go in here.” O’Neil said, highlighting the single entrance and exit on the bunker.

“Fucker is going to know as soon as we blast through the door.” Cain muttered as he surveyed the blueprint.

“Yes, which means we’ll need to move as quickly as possible to secure all targets.”

“And potential hostages,” Neeva added without elaboration.

O’Neil knew better than to correct her. She wouldn’t have interrupted him if it weren’t important and, as his right hand woman, he trusted her above all others. If she felt it was important for the officers to believe there might be an Omega to save, he wasn’t going to question her.

 “Yes,” O’Neil said slowly and glanced around. “It will be of utmost importance to find the newborn pup or pregnant Omega. I’ve got three paramedics on standby,” he nodded at the trio. “As well as Cooper, who has personal experience with pups.”

Cody snorted and several of the other local officers grinned, obviously all familiar with Cooper’s uncommonly large family. Two pups was the societal norm; three was considered a sign of favorable fortune from the gods; four was excessive and meant Cooper and his wife were an extraordinary fertile pair.

“All officers will arrive on site and the local officers will spread out around the field above the bunker in case there is another exit that is not recorded on these plans. Only myself and my team will breach the bunker. Cain, you’ll lead sub-group A, once inside the main cavity Neeva will split off with a sub-group B. Sub-group C will continue to follow me to the far end of the bunker.”

O’Neil was pleased at how closely his team was paying attention. His officers really were the best of the best. “The paramedics will only be cleared for entry once I,” O’Neil paused and stared down the paramedics. “ _I_ give the go ahead. No one else is authorized to clear your presence in that bunker.”

“Understood, sir,” the single Omega paramedic said.

O’Neil wasn’t sure he approved of bringing an under-trained Omega in the Alpha’s den. But he was equally unsure of bringing Alpha paramedics to provide care for a living Omega victim or new Omega parent. It was shitty all round, but eventually he’d settled on two Alphas and an Omega, all of whom had completed extended combat training that went above and beyond their normal duties and were all over the age of thirty. They still weren’t as capable of defending themselves as the highly trained members of his team, but O’Neil had to make do with what he had in the limited amount of time he had.

“We’re playing this mostly by ear, people, so keep light on your toes and be ready for changes that might not make sense.”

The room filled with muttered ‘yes, sir’s and O’Neil nodded, satisfied with his officers.

“One question,” Cody piped up.

All eyes fell on the younger Omega, who promptly blushed and glanced down at his feet shyly. O’Neil’s belly flushed with warmth when the Omega glanced up at him and seemed to straighten under his gaze. O’Neil wasn’t used to Omega’s reacting to him that way. He was more used to making them wilt further; he just had that effect on people.

“Yes, Cody?” Neeva asked, when it became clear O’Neil wouldn’t.

Cody’s crystal clear blue eyes shifted to Neeva as he spoke. “What’s your plan for breaching the bunker? Like Corporal Cain mentioned, you’ll alert everyone inside as soon as the charges blow.”

The room was silent as all eyes flew back to O’Neil. He thought over the question for a moment, it was the single biggest flaw in the plan. One he’d overlooked.

Finally, he said, “Do you have a suggestion you’d like to make?”

Cody grinned. “As a matter of fact,” he turned to Cooper. “Do you have the connection code for Chuck’s mobile?”

XXX

“That was a good idea you had in there.” The gruff voice sounded reluctant to issue the compliment.

Cody smirked as he continued to cut into the sandwich he’d prepared. “Thanks,” he murmured without turning around.

The Alpha cleared his throat and Cody didn’t even bother to hold back the shiver that coursed through him at the sound.

Slowly, he faced the Alpha, plate in hand. “Care to join me for a… bite?”

Hot eyes blazed as he sashayed past the man he’d been trying to get to notice him since picking him up from the airport. He made sure to add extra sway to his generous hips. Cody knew he looked good and he was damn well gonna work it.   

“My office is this way,” Cody said quietly, pausing in the doorway, barely a hair's-breadth between him and his target. “But you already know that.”

It hadn’t been chance that the commander had selected Cody’s space for his personal office. Nor had it been chance that Cody was the first car to arrive at the airport by ten extra minutes.  

Cody didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know the Alpha was following, a wide grin spread across his lips. At his door, he toed it open and then waited for the Alpha to step inside before he closed it. The soft hiss of the lock practically echoed in the silence of the room.

He set the plate on a file cabinet, out of the way, and then his hands dropped to his belt. The Alpha was on him in an instant. Cody’s world shifted as he was dragged across his office. He bent backward to sweep all of the equipment off his desk before finding himself splayed across it. He moaned as the Alpha yanked his shirt out of his waistband and licked and nibbled on the base of his spine.

“Enough with the games, commander,” Cody said breathlessly as he tried to get his hands under him so he could shove his pants and briefs out of the way. “Fuck me already!”

Commander O’Neil didn’t have to be told twice. Within seconds Cody’s clothes were gone and the commander’s National S&S issued trousers were undone. The Alpha’s cock poked at Cody’s entrance and he let out the sluttiest moan he could manage.  

“Come on, come on, come on,” he pleaded until the commander’s cock slid inside of him.

The pair groaned in unison as Cody clamped down on the Alpha’s cock, welcoming him inside his warm, wet hole.

“That’s it, take me,” he muttered as the commander started to roll his hips forward. “Faster,” Cody said and then yelped as the Alpha smacked him on in upraised ass.

Moaning, Cody tilted his hips as far as he was able, begging for another slap. Commander O’Neil chuckled as he reddened Cody’s flesh with a few more spanks. Catching the Alphas point and shutting up, Cody braced himself on the flat surface of his desk as he was given the pounding of his life.

 

Cody came twice before the Alpha finally released, but he didn’t stay inside of Cody. Instead, he pulled out and spurted all over his pinkened cheeks. Cody whimpered in over-stimulation as the commander withdrew and dropped to his knees, burying his tongue in the hole he’d loosened. The Alpha’s skilled tongue sucked out all traces of his release and lapped at his sore skin.

He didn’t bruise easily, and the redness would likely be gone within an hour, but Cody was happy to say that he wouldn’t be able to sit for days without the reminder of Commander O’Neil’s prowess.

When the commander leaned back, Cody rose and walked over to the cabinet. The Alpha had shifted into Cody’s desk chair. Smiling, he dropped into the Alpha’s lap and pressed close.

“Thanks for that, commander.” Cody said softly as he placed delicate kisses along the shell of the commander’s ear.

The Alpha grunted, but took the sandwich he’d been offered and devoured it.

“Be safe out there, will you.” Cody said, a serious look in his eyes.

The commander glanced up before quickly looking away, but in the end he gave a gruff nod.

Cody smiled and ran his fingernails through the man’s cropped hair, admiring the strength of his jaw and the width of his shoulders.

“Keep touching me like that and I’ll have you bent back over this desk,” the commander said, his deep voice playful.

Cody smile and wiggled in the Alpha’s lap. “Just trying to make sure you know what’s waiting for you if you come back in one piece.”

Dark eyes heated as the Alpha smirked. Cody grinned back, his hole clenching in the thought of a repeat session with the sex beast he’d unleashed.

Cody had no illusions that Commander O’Neil thought he was anything special; in fact, he knew he was lucky if the Alpha even remembered his name. He knew that, if it had been this easy to get the commander inside of him, he wasn’t the only local Omega the commander had helped himself to.

But Cody had plans, big plans, and right now those plans involved his continued inclusion on the case of the millennium. So far, he was getting his way.

The commander checked the time keeper on the wall and finished his sandwich quickly. “I’ve got fifteen minutes before I need to shower and change.”

Cody tossed back his head and stood. He watched the Alpha’s face closely as he climbed on top of the wooden surface of his desk and presented.

“Oh you beautiful fucker,” the commander praised as he drew closer.

Cody gasped as the Alpha buried his face between his cheeks and slurped at his gaping hole. Slick dripped out of his passage and Cody flexed his hips, driving his ass backward into the commander’s face.

They groaned simultaneously as the Alpha pulled away. He straightened to his full height and pressed forward. Alpha and Omega cried out in relief as a cock slid into Cody’s warm, wet sheath. Cody’s knees felt weak, but he tightened his muscles and rolled his hips backward in time with the Alpha’s thrusts until he came with a roar.

The commander dropped into Cody’s chair and flipped him onto his back, sucking his cock down in one go. Cody writhed in pleasure until he squirted into the commander’s mouth. The Alpha then cleaned him out and finished by placing gentle kisses along the inside of his thigh all the way down to the arch of his foot.

Cody sat up, capturing the commander’s neck between his legs as he caught his face in his hands.  

“Come back to me,” Cody commanded, making it sound more like a desperate plea than an order.

The commander’s face was flushed with Alpha lust as he nodded.

Cody smiled and released him. He was still smiling several minutes later when the Alpha ducked out into the hall to prepare for the infiltration of the underground bunker.

While Cody may not have the required combat training to be allowed to leave the safety of the secured office building, he knew he’d have his chance to get close to the action on other ways. Assured of himself, he rose and followed his meal ticket to the showers. Perhaps he’d be able to tempt the Alpha to one last set of blowjobs.

XXX

Probably shouldn’t have done that, O’Neil thought as he stripped and ducked into a stall. Definitely shouldn’t do that again, he amended as he held the door open for the pert-assed Omega he’d just fucked into oblivion. Or, at least that had been his intention. He’d obviously failed, or else Cody wouldn’t be standing under the spray  with nothing more than a smile and a rock hard cock pointing straight at O’Neil. The look in his eyes was a blatant invitation, and the tilt of his head a dare.

Never one to turn down a challenge, O’Neil closed the door behind him and hauled the Omega into his arms. Cody’s eyes locked with his as O’Neil lowered him onto his cock.

They both ignored the hoots of the Alphas who’d started jeering playfully as soon as the Omega had followed O’Neil into the Alpha-only locker room. Cody seemed unabashed in his passion as he threw his head back and moaned. O’Neil couldn’t help but take advantage of the slim column of the Omega’s neck, nipping and nuzzling at the smooth flesh.

Cody gasped and came, his muscles clamping down around O’Neil like the warmest, wettest vice. He shouted as he released, panting, holding Cody in his arms as the water washed away the scent of their sexual activity.

“Want me to wash your back?” Cody purred in O’Neil’s ear as he slowly slid to the floor.

“Running out of time, boss,” an Alpha called from the next stall over.

Cody smiled, rather than taking offense at the group activity their fucking had become.

“Well, duty calls,” he said casually as he opened the stall door and slid out, sans towel.

O’Neil growled low in his chest, the noise mostly hidden by the spray of water, as he watched the Omega’s perfect ass while he flounced through a locker room of Alphas in various states of disarray. It took all of his carefully cultivated restraint not to growl and chase after him. O’Neil wanted to fuck the Omega in front over every Alpha who’d seen Cody naked to prove that his ass belong to O’Neil and only O’Neil.

“Fuck,” he said as he instead closed the door. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Refocusing on the task at hand, O’Neil finished washing.

It was only natural, he told himself, to seek out company right before a dangerous mission. It wasn’t as if his team hadn’t seen him sexing up a local officer before. Well, perhaps they hadn’t seen it quite so clearly as they had with Cody… but O’Neil sure as hell had seen more than one of his team either pounding or getting pounded before missions.

It was understandable; they worked a high stress job and intimate relationships within the Alphas and Omegas on his team were strictly forbidden. Thus, the majority of his team sought their pleasures where they could find them.

And damn, that little Omega’s hole was a _pleasure_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be uploaded weekly on Saturdays.


	5. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These next two chapters are shorter than anything thing else in the book, but I think you’ll understand once you’ve read them why I chose not to combine them. 
> 
> I've also decided to create a Tumblr account. Does anyone have ideas on what they'd like to see on my Tumblr? So far I've thought of doing mini preview teasers for the chapter that will posted on the following Saturday, but what other types of content would people be interested in?

**Chapter Four: Discovery**

_Breaking News Archive: Sources  close to the Omega Slasher investigation have confirmed that the body discovered this morning by a jogger in the woods outside of Maryville is Gabriel Latham. The discovery is heartbreaking to all of us here at Station 71, and our deepest sympathies are with young Gabriel’s family. Our station will be taking place in a tribute offering at sunset, we welcome others to join in our shared grief over the loss of such a promising life._

 

A caravan of rollers drove along empty roads toward the Jenkens property. At the edge of the field where the bunker was located, men and women dressed in black battle gear streamed out of the silenced vehicles and spread out.

The local officers started running, crouching close to the ground as they formed a perimeter. If the Omega Slasher tried to make a run for it, he wouldn’t get very far.

O’Neil made eye contact with Cain and Neeva as they each led their sub-groups forward toward the spot that St. Clare had identified as the entrance from the drone footage and the blueprint.

As the team approached, they nearly missed the unobtrusive entrance. It was little more than an old wooden door over what appeared to be a random hole in ground, similar to a cellar entry. But O’Neil was confident that this celler wasn’t holding expensive bottles of wine.

Stepping forward and kneeling, St. Clare pressed a thermal scanner to the flat wood. Glancing up, he met O’Neil’s eyes and made the hand signal for ‘empty.’

The few local officers that had been selected to accompany O’Neil’s team shifted restlessly, anxious with nerves over the importance of what was about to happen. They stilled after a dark glare from Neeva. Even in the midst of stressful chaos O’Neil had to smirk; no one messed with Neeva. She was his number two for a reason.

Cain knelt and cautiously opened the hatch. He made sure to pull the wooden door open as silently as possible. Letting it rest in the tall grass to the side with a gentle rustle. Then, with the utmost caution, he followed a set of stairs into the darkness below.

O’Neil was second, followed by St. Clare and Neeva. They huddled together next to a second door, this one was made out of metal with a nasty looking locking mechanism. As they’d figured, they’d have to blow the door to gain access to the bunker.

St. Clare conducted another thermal scan. He used hand signs to say, ‘Two standing targets. One pacing. Probable third target. All targets located in the back of the bunker.’  

This was it, O’Neil thought as he signaled for St. Clare to set the charges. His lieutenant did as told while Neeva and Cain crept up the stairs to run final prep with the rest of the team waiting outside.

Taking a deep breath and releasing, O’Neil whipped out his handheld connection device and called Chuck’s mobile. Neither he nor St. Clare flinched when it started to echo from the other side of the door. Praying to every god he could remember, O’Neil waited. Not even daring to breath, his gaze focused on St. Clare’s thermal scanner.

One of the figures moved.

Dear gods, this might actually work, he thought.

O’Neil’s heart thudded in his chest as he signaled for St. Clare to pull back. Once his lieutenant was clear, O’Neil waited for a few more moments as he watched the target rummage around on the other side of the door.

He crept up the stairs and was outside just as the connection failed. Steadily, knowing everything rested on this, O’Neil entered Chuck’s connection code a second time.  

Then he met St. Clare’s eyes and nodded.

Heat exploded out of the hole in the ground as the door was blown open. Cain’s sub-group, ever prepared, dove forward and down the stairs. Neeva and O’Neil’s teams followed.

O’Neil leapt past the fallen Alpha near the explosion site, assured he wasn’t going anywhere as members of sub-group A secured him.

Pressing deeper, Neeva’s sub-group split off even as O’Neil’s own group stayed close. Hearing screaming from down a hall, he carefully approached. Rounding a corner, his team opening doors and clearing side rooms, O’Neil stayed focused on an open doorway at the end of the hall.

He followed the scent of blood and distress through an open doorway at the far end of the bunker. O’Neil cleared the entry way and noted a blond Alpha who was holding a knife and kneeling over an Omega who appeared to be in the late stages of labor.

The man was so distracted by his Omega, he didn’t even have time to react as O’Neil launched himself, tackling the other Alpha to the floor. The knife clattered against cement and spun out of reach. A throbbing sense of urgency made O’Neil’s heart pound faster as he secured the Alpha’s wrists and shouted for his team to drag the bastard out. Four of O’Neil’s most trusted Alphas surrounded him, making sure the monster was never allowed to hurt another soul.

O’Neil stared hard at the other Alpha as we has dragged away, recognizing the bastard’s face; there was no doubt in his mind as he met frigid, fury filled eyes that he’d caught the right murderer. He also noted the Alpha’s eerie silence and lack of struggle as he was forced from his mate’s side. Most Alphas would have been manic in their urgency to return to their mates.

“Finish clearing the rest of the room and then check on the other team,” O’Neil ordered his remaining team member as he stripped off his helmet and gloves as he approached the Omega who was whimpering in terror and struggling to roll away.

The scent of distressed, pregnant Omega was overwhelming. O’Neil’s instincts screamed at him to protect the terrified Omega. Even as his brain swore at him not to give the little fucker any leeway.

The room emptied; only McGwain hesitated. He obviously wanted to approach the other Omega, but he followed his duty and cleared the bathroom before ducking back out into the hallway with the rest of the team. The door closed behind him with a soft click.

“It’s okay, everything is going to be all right.” O’Neil soothed. His Alpha intuition kicking in to help the Omega through the birthing process regardless of his crimes. “My name is Haiden O’Neil and I’m here to help.”

The Omega continued to whine as a contraction hit him. He was lying on his back, which O’Neil knew was not good for male-Omega labor from the quick research he did after his initial conversation with Sergeant Cooper. Drawing closer, he stretched out a hand for the Omega to scent. When he wasn’t swatted away, he gently urged the Omega’s slender frame onto his side so that he could push easier.

Omega females often stood to deliver, or squatted, but males usually had to give birth lying on their sides due to the awkward position of the male womb.

But something was off here.

As O’Neil helped roll him, he discovered the Omega’s hands were bound and folded upward against his back in a highly painful way. Hesitating, he didn’t want to cut the criminal loose, O’Neil glanced up at the Omega’s face. He didn’t have a clear view.

Standing O’Neil rounded the bed.

“Commander, the bunker is clear. There’s no one else here.” Neeva’s voice was pained as she slipped inside the room, closing the door behind her.

His team had all hoping to catch the monster with a living victim. It would have made it all somehow worth it if they’d been able to save even one Omega. The pregnant mate of the monster didn’t count. It was devastating to know they’d failed yet another victim.

Or maybe it was a good thing they hadn’t found anyone; maybe they’d stopped the killer from taking another boy. Only, it wasn’t good news because they hadn’t found another body since the one found right after Gabriel’s disappearance. It meant that either the killer hadn’t murdered anyone in almost two years – highly unlikely – or he’d gotten better at hiding the bodies. Meaning, no new crimes scenes and no closure for the families.

“Bring in the paramedics… and Cooper. But only as far as the hallway. Tell everyone else, hold back. I don’t want to distress him anymore than we have to until the baby is delivered.” O’Neil said and Neeva nodded, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Focused on his task, O’Neil knelt down alongside the Omega’s face as he panted. Gently, he combed back the man’s sweat-soaked blond hair, trying to get a better look at his features.

O’Neil’s heart skipped a beat as he revealed flushed cheeks covered in tears and snot, but underneath, the stunning visage of an Omega he’d recognize anywhere. Blood rushed to his head and his heart pounded. Fingers shaking, O’Neil wiped away the Omega’s tears while holding back some of his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted weekly, on Saturdays.


	6. Memories

Chapter Five: Memories 

_Breaking News Archive: It is with our greatest remorse that we announced the body discovered early yesterday morning was not Gabriel Latham, as previously reported. Instead, Commander Haiden O’Neil, the National Safety and Security officer in charge of the Omega Slasher abductions and murders, released the following statement through his media liaison, Lieutenant Charles Kirkpatrick: “Despite the media portrayals to the contrary, the body discovered outside of Maryville was not Gabriel Latham. Latham is still missing and we are continuing to seek information in his disappearance. If you have useful and truthful information, please contact the information connection tipline.” Lieutenant Kirkpatrick did not release the identity of the victim; it is believed they are still searching for the family of the deceased young Omega. It is believed the boy was killed by the same monster who, less than a week after murdering the still unknown victim, abducted Gabriel Latham._

 

O’Neil remembered the night Gabriel went missing. Vividly. He had been wrapping up paperwork from another case when he’d received a call from a bartender who’d gotten ahold of his personal code from a friend of a friend. A couple of Omegas had lost their companion and weren’t sure what they should do since he was underage and they had all been drinking.

Almost done for the night, O’Neil hadn’t wanted to get involved. But something in his gut had responded to the bartender’s plea for help. He’d arrived at the nightclub within ten minutes and questioned the two teenagers about their lost friend. That was then they’d admitted it was Gabriel Latham who was missing; the sixteen-year-old son of one the biggest governmental hotshots in the country and her insanely wealthy stockbroker mate. Both families were old money and O’Neil had recognized the kid’s name right away; his Alpha mom was likely to be the next prime minister, backed by his Omega dad’s financial friends.

Gabriel’s disappearance went national in a matter of minutes. He was a young, gorgeous, privileged little rich boy. Mixed together and it was a perfect storm for the media. At first, there was a lot of speculation that he’d simply run away. Especially when it came out that Gabriel’s boyfriend had just broken up with him and he’d been seen getting cozy with another Alpha on the dance floor the night he’d gone missing. It hadn’t helped that he’d disappeared in the middle of February, just before the holiday of love. The media dubbed Gabriel’s departure ‘a broken hearted teen searching for love and attention,’ the stories weren’t necessarily positive as fellow teens were brought on camera to speak about Gabriel’s often childish antics and demands for peer worship.

Nor had it helped when it was reported that Gabriel had been more than ‘cozy’ with the Alpha on the dance floor. The term ‘slut’ had been thrown around and it enraged O’Neil, who disliked the double standard applied to Omegas.

Besides the few rags running those tales, the rest of the stories weren’t all bad; several stations focused on what a bright student Gabriel was, and how well loved he was by a lot of people including teachers and coaches. Not to mention his parents, who had initially sent representatives in front of the cameras to beg Gabriel to come home. Even they’d believed the boy had run away. Or at least they’d wanted to pretend they did.   

O’Neil had never believed Gabriel had run away. He’d known, in his gut, from the moment he’d gotten the call, that Gabriel was just another pretty blond boy who had fallen victim to the Omega Slasher.

When Gabriel stayed missing, and the days turned into weeks, accusations started flying. Especially when officers were able to pull footage off of a security camera in the nightclub that had captured a single shot of an Alpha dropping something into Gabriel’s drink. There had been a delay in uncovering the evidence because the bar’s security manager had tried to wipe the footage, fearing the backlash. Now he was serving fifteen years for tampering with evidence and complicity in Gabriel’s kidnapping.

In the footage, the Alpha had been so close to getting away with his face hidden by a cap and hoodie. But then Gabriel had laughed, and the monster had turned; his face was forever immortalized on grainy film and circulated throughout the nation. Secretly, O’Neil had applauded the young Omega in helping catch his killer, even if it had been unintentional.

The Alpha who witnesses had seen dancing with Gabriel at the club had been cleared quickly, followed by every Alpha Gabriel had any sort of connection to. None of them matched the slightly blurry image of the Alpha who’d drugged Gabriel.

Then, a leak within S&S led to the media announcing a body of a teenage Omega with blond hair had been found in the woods about a day’s drive away. O’Neil remembered that day vividly too. The female jogger. The eerie woods. The conviction he’d found the body of the recently reported missing Gabriel Latham.

Instantly, the media story changed as reporters started questioning if the body belonged to Gabriel, and if the formerly elusive Omega Slasher was responsible. After all, Gabriel fit the victim profile to a ‘T.’ It wasn’t long before stations were outright confirming Gabriel’s death and holding wakes or offering tribute to the gods in his name.

The entire ordeal had pissed O’Neil off. He’d known the truth about Gabriel’s disappearance all along. But no one had listened to his almost eight years as commander of the Omega Slasher task force.

The cold weather had preserved Carl’s body well as had the lack of animal activity in the area. The medical staff that had conducted the autopsy estimated the body had been out there for about three weeks, meaning he’d been killed about a week before Gabriel was taken. Considering the media pronouncements and the pressure from Gabriel’s wealthy and connected family, O’Neil’s hand was forced and he reluctantly declared that the body found belonged to Carl Evans and that they had no new leads on Gabriel’s abduction.

After O’Neil announced that Carl was the latest victim of the only operating serial killer known to the National Safety and Security Council, the press coverage had blown up into a story that had been retold on prime time news for months after Gabriel’s initial disappearance. The footage of the furtive Alpha, the prime suspect, was released and had been replayed hundreds of times a day across the nation.

Respectable news tations and even the tabloids scrambled to remove their unfavorable coverage of Gabriel in hopes of capitalizing on plees for his safe return. The media spent less time mourning Carl’s actual death than they had the unconfirmed death of Gabriel. The dismissal of Carl had never sat well with O’Neil. Gods, the kid had only been fourteen.

While the media stewed, O’Neil continued his investigation into Gabriel’s abduction; it was his best chance of catching the killer. Even then he hadn’t really believed he’d ever find Gabriel in time to bring him home alive.

The Alpha from the bar footage matched the only other eyewitness description authorities had of the notorious serial killer, dubbed the Omega Slasher, who had been connected to at least six murders. More, if O’Neil’s gut was correct.

Before the bar footage, Safety and Security didn’t have a single image of the killer and only one eyewitness to the crimes. An elderly woman had been out for a late night walk and had seen a tall, attractive Alpha with fair hair carrying a young Omega who had appeared to be sleeping. When the woman questioned the Alpha, he’d smiled and said the Omega was his little brother.

The woman had been so charmed that she hadn’t spared the interaction a second thought until the boy’s disappearance was reported in the paper a few days later. By then it had already been too late. They’d found Kirby Mave’s body less than a week later, covered in semen and blood, missing his throat. He was the second victim.

The first victim, Andrew Hoppens, was abducted and killed almost eleven years ago, establishing the start of the horrific pattern. All the victims were male Omegas with blond hair and petite builds, murdered and then dumped in remote locations across the nation. Carl at been the youngest victim yet discovered at fourteen, and the oldest, Jacob Keller, the fourth victim they knew of, had been nineteen.

Some of the crimes were linked by blood or semen; other bodies, like Carl’s, had been washed clean before being killed; but all of the victims were linked through that ghastly pattern that had been conclusively established; every single boys’ throat had been ripped out by the same Alpha’s claws. S&S had decided to hide that fact to minimize panic, announcing only that the Omegas throats had been cut. Still, the moniker used by the media had stuck.

O’Neil remembered being horrified when he’d first been brought onto the case… almost ten years ago. He still had a picture of Sam Wicket, the third victim, on his desk as a reminder of a bright Omega of seventeen who’d wanted to be a doctor, and whose life had been cut tragically short. It continued to horrify O’Neil more and more with each body until he was seeing victims in the random faces he passed on the street.

That person was too tall; that one’s hair too dark; that one just pretty and blond enough to make his gut clench with fear. Nightmares plagued O’Neil both while he was asleep and awake.

The Omega Slasher held onto some of his victims longer than others, although O’Neil wasn’t certain why. Most of the boys were only held for a matter of a couple of months, although it did vary. The longest a victim was held was an estimated six months; that had been Sebastian Wakefield, the fifth victim.

Carl had been held the shortest, at only a few weeks, which was why the media and general public had assumed Carl’s body was actually Gabriel. It fit within the pattern.

Especially after the press coverage and the discovery of a body, it seemed unlikely that the Omega Slasher would hang onto Gabriel. O’Neil had fully expected to get the call that they’d found Gabriel’s body every single day for the first four months after his disappearance.

But the call never came. So O’Neil had uneasily concluded that Gabriel’s body had been lost and would go undiscovered, hidden better so as to avoid the media firestorm that continued to surround the boy’s disappearance. Or that perhaps the killer was so arrogant that he’d held onto Gabriel despite the extensive coverage of his abduction.

But as the months passed and no new blond boys turned up dead, so people began to assume the Omega Slasher was in one of his cooling off periods.

Over the course of the decade in which the serial killer had been active, O’Neil had found several long periods in the pattern in which no new Slasher victims had appeared. O’Neil wholeheartedly believed in one of two things. One, that the Omega Slasher had other victims that he’d disposed of in places they’d never find the bodies. Or two, the killer was murdering Omegas in a different way during his rest periods. Needless to say, option two had not made O’Neil very popular around the national office. Afterall, why would the Omega _Slasher_ not slash all of his victims’ throats?

But O’Neil was sure he was onto something. He’d found at least three boys who matched the profile perfectly except for one detail: none of their throats had been ripped out. Instead, the three blond Omegas, ranging from eighteen to twenty, with petite builds and stunning faces had been strangled. Their throats crushed instead of ripped out by Alpha claws.  

O’Neil had argued with his supervisors for weeks about wanting to go public with the information to see if he could find new evidence. But eventually he’d been threatened with removal from the case and he’d backed off. According to O’Neil’s bosses, it just wasn’t realistic that the Omega Slasher would also strangle his victims. It didn’t fit his serial methodology. They were right, of course… but the were also dead wrong.

So O’Neil had tried to find evidence of a partner; the presence of the Alpha claws equaled a mate whom most believed was complicit in the Omega Slasher’s crimes. He or she would have to be present at the murders and in some sort of danger in order for the Alpha to release his claws.

Although that still wouldn’t explain the strangulations.

It wasn’t impossible for an Omega to strangle another Omega, but it was highly unlikely. About as unlikely as the Omega Slasher murdering only a few of his victims through strangulation, according to O’Neil’s supervisors.

So O’Neil looked into the possibility of an Alpha accomplish. Everyone thought he was crazy for thinking that any Alpha would be able to find another Alpha with the same mental instability to act as a partner; O’Neil had seen some shit over the years and didn’t think it was as unlikely as everyone else thought.

But, in the end, none of O’Neil’s alternative routes of investigation had panned out and the killer had gone cold for months after Gabriel’s disappearance. Around the nation people waited with baited breath as the cooling off period extended past the last known longest period of rest. Four months, six months, eight months, and on it went.

The killer’s cooling off periods varied. Sometimes, like with Carl and Gabriel, he’d abduct another boy within weeks of disposing of the last one. But other times it would be months. So the nation waited.

After a year, then a year and half, when the bodies had stopped showing up – when Gabriel’s body hadn’t turned up – most feared that the killer had started hiding his victims. It was somewhat of a stretch because bodies, no matter how remote the burial, rarely went unfound in this day and age, but one that O’Neil had eventually reluctantly accepted that conclusion.

On the year anniversary of Gabriel’s abduction, the entire nation went dark for one minute. That minute was supposed to be in honor of Gabriel’s memory and an attempt to ‘draw information out of the darkness,’ or some other bullshit meant to comfort the clueless masses. Following that minute were hours of news interviews with friends and family as well as the announcement that the reward for Gabriel’s safe return had increased from one million to two million.

The anniversary effort hadn’t worked, but it had renewed the media coverage of Gabriel’s disappearance. O’Neil regretted not getting out ahead of the media better because he’d believe that was the reason Gabriel’s body hadn’t been found. The increased fervor over the reward had also made his job a lot more difficult because his entire team was swamped with call after call of witnesses claiming to have seen Gabriel. Interestingly, no one had ever claimed to have seen the Alpha. Probably because S&S didn’t offer rewards for helping to catch murderers and actively prosecuted false information claims (they’d had a hard time with that second part in Gabriel’s case due to the high volume of calls). More than one person had been fined or forced to complete philanthropy work during the course of the investigation after making damaging false claims.

After a while, O’Neil and his team had started to realize that every single call was fake. Even the do-gooders who actually believed what they saw – all fake. It had been over a year and all leads were dead it seemed.

Gods, O’Neil had stopped pursuing tips about Gabriel because he’d been so convinced they were all unreliable. He’d made up his mind that Gabriel was dead and started to focus on the possible abductions of other young, blond Omegas, even though none of those disappearances (and often reappearances days later) ever panned out.

How could he have been so fucking wrong?    

Even when O’Neil had concluded Gabriel was dead, he hadn’t stopped watching the footage of his abduction. The Alpha had been so close to getting away without being seen, and had fucked up and turned at the last moment.

It was his first mistake.

His second had been shopping at Chuck’s pup supply store.

The only people who hadn’t given up on finding Gabriel were his parents. Mrs. and Mr. Latham had spent a fortune trying to locate their son. They had splashed his face and that of the suspected serial killer as far and as wide as they possibly could. They’d even installed a personal line that only O’Neil had the code for, to use during his monthly check in calls. Nothing had worked, and month after month passed until O’Neil had gotten a phone call from Sergeant Cooper in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

The Omega Slasher was officially in S&S custody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted weekly, on Saturdays.


	7. Deliverance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter you should definitely have been waiting for.

Chapter Six: Deliverance 

_ Doctor’s Notes: While most believe Alphas to be the strongest sex and Omegas are typically gentle and non-violent, it is well documented that Omega parents are far more likely to viciously attack when their pups are threatened. Few survive serious attempts to part a mother or father Omega with his or her child. _

 

O’Neil had seen pictures of the Gabriel from before his abduction. His incredible beauty had been part of the reason the media had continue to drag out the story long after the investigation had gone cold. Money didn’t always buy good looks. But Gabriel hadn’t needed money when it came to that arena. The gods had blessed him with big, green eyes, pale, creamy skin, and thick blond hair. Gabriel would have grown up to be the nighttime fantasy of more than a few Alphas. Heck, he’d probably driven the boys his age wild.

It was hard to reconcile those images with the pregnant Omega in front of him. It was hard to believe that this Omega really was Gabriel. The kid was only eighteen. O’Neil had checked his records earlier; Gabriel was less than three months into his eighteen year. Meaning he was still years away from his first Heat and his entrance into adult-Omegahood. It was impossible for a teenage Omega to be full term with pup.

But it was equally impossible that the swollen curve of his belly was anything other than a pup. O’Neil was as certain that Gabriel was pregnant as he was certain this Omega was in fact Gabriel. There was no hiding the boy’s true identity even under the sweat and tears.

So, very carefully, O’Neil used his knife to slice open the bindings at Gabriel’s wrists and backed off when the Omega swiped protectively at him.

There was the reaction he’d expected earlier.

Immediately after swiping, Gabriel clutched at his belly and buried his face into the pillows, screaming in pain.  

Urging himself forward, O’Neil said, “I think you need to push.”

The boy jerked but didn’t move other than to draw his knees to his chest and rock back and forth as the contraction rolled over him. Almost as soon as it ended another one began.

“You need to push, now,” O’Neil insisted and drew closer. “Draw your knees up tighter and on the count of three, push. One, two, three!”

Gabriel moaned and his eyes squeezed shut as his entire body was wracked with pain and he curled into a smaller ball. He sobbed as he shook his head.

“Here, you can squeeze my hand if you need to,” O’Neil offered, but didn’t touch Gabriel again.

The poor kid had been through enough.

XXX

Gabriel couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the pain. He was scared and felt threatened by the presence of a strange Alpha near his unborn pup while he was weak and vulnerable. It had been centuries since Alphas slaughtered other Alphas’ pups, but those instincts still remained within Omegas, just in case of incidents like the one he was in currently.

Gabriel hadn’t been safe with his own Alpha mates, why would he be safe with this new Alpha? At least with Travin… Gabriel had been relatively sure his pup would have been looked after. Simian would have been better though. Simian wouldn’t have let this stranger Alpha get this close to his beloved pup. 

Just because this Alpha had used his knife to cut Gabriel’s bindings rather than his womb from his belly didn’t mean he wasn’t still a threat to his baby.  It didn’t seem to matter though; Gabriel’s body was beyond his ability to control as it worked to expel his pup from his womb.

“Come on kid, you’re losing a lot of blood already. That can’t be good. You need to push.”

The slight panic in the Alpha’s voice calmed something inside Gabriel as he found his mind relaxing even as he could feel every muscle in his body straining. Bright light and spotty shadows flashed before Gabriel’s eyes as he finally felt his pup pop free of his cervix and move into his canal. He screamed as he push and then gasped as his child’s head and shoulders edged past his cervix. Gabriel gave one final pushed once more, nearly blacking out, and the pup slipped free. 

The unwelcome Alpha moved toward his pup and Gabriel lashed out, clawing at the Alpha’s face as he tried to sit up so he could protect his infant; curling his legs in a protective tangle around the infant’s defenseless form. But it was no use; the Alpha was cradling his baby in one large arm and was using the other to hold Gabriel down.

Screaming senselessly, inconsolable with terror, Gabriel continued to struggle and scratched at the hand holding him, drawing blood. It seemed like an eternity passed until the Alpha handed over his pup. Gabriel’s entire body slumped as soon as he held his babe in his arms. Using the last of his energy, he rolled onto his back and cradled his pup against his throat, inhaling deeply.

Utterly spent, he all but ignored the Alpha threat; he was too weak to do anything about him anyway. And now that he had his baby he didn’t care what the stranger did to him. Gabriel would die before he’d let the stranger touch his baby again, he thought as he inspected his little one.   

Normally it was the Alpha parent’s responsibility to clean the pup, stroking the newborn’s face to clear away the remaining fluid and checking for any problems in both pup and Omega. But Gabriel’s Alphas weren’t here, and even if they had been he wasn’t certain he would have trusted them with such a delicate task.

So Gabriel did the job himself.

Grooming was a bonding experience, and Gabriel was going to relish every moment he was allowed with his child before this most precious gift was ripped away just as everything else good in his life had been.

Cooing, Gabriel groomed his baby from head to foot and then counted his fingers and toes. He wiggled each tiny limb and ran his fingers lightly over every inch of perfection until he was marginally satisfied that his pup was healthy; then he began the process all over again.   

XXX

O’Neil watched as Gabriel nuzzled his pup and sucked the fluid out of his mouth and lungs before proceeding to check over the infant, cleaning as he went. O’Neil hadn’t been sure of how the Omega was going to react once the pup was outside of his body; he’d been afraid the teen would turn on the tiny newborn.

It didn’t happen often, but occasionally an Omega would fall pregnant outside of the mating bond and would hate the creature planted inside of his or her body. It was especially prevalent among sex workers to murder infants that occurred as a result of paid fucking, no matter how infrequently it happened. O’Neil hadn’t meant to associate Gabriel with sex workers, but his training to remove the child had been so well drilled into him, he’d reacted mostly on instinct.

Instead of behaving like suspected, Gabriel had turned on O’Neil, thinking him a threat to his tiny pup. He’d calmed as soon as O’Neil returned his infant. Now Gabriel was practically ignoring O’Neil, even though he could still sense at least part of the Omega’s attention was on him. No much though; it was clear to O’Neil how devoted Gabriel was and how lucky that pup was to have such a father.

Gabriel looked as physically worn as O’Neil felt emotionally exhausted. He had truly believed Gabriel was dead; his only goal in this mission had been to bring the Alpha murder to justice and attempt to find Gabriel’s body, perhaps even rescue a new victim. But now… now O’Neil didn’t know what to do.

He stared at Gabriel, taking the vision in. The boy… man… Omega, was slender despite his swollen belly, almost scarily so, and was quite a mess. He was covered in sweat and other bodily fluids and the blood that O’Neil had been worried about earlier was pooled between his thighs and leaking from… O’Neil leaned closer.

The Omega was still actively bleeding from a gash on his stomach, right where a doctor might cut a male Omega open who had already passed without birthing his child. He shook his head in disbelief, unable to process the information.

He tentatively applied pressure to the wound, using a clean towel that had been sitting to the side of the bed. Gabriel growled when O’Neil had first touched his belly, but hadn’t seemed to object more when he was otherwise left alone. The close proximity allowed O’Neil to get a better look at Gabriel’s face as he checked for other wounds. That was when O’Neil finally noticed Gabriel’s neck.

“What the…?” O’Neil muttered and leaned closer.

O’Neil saw the scarred over mate mark on Gabriel’s neck. It looked like he had experienced pretty severe rot before it had been treated with medicine, rather than by his mate, who O’Neil presumed was dead. No Alpha would willing let his mate suffer in such a shameful manner. Someone had clearly done a number on this kid.

Gabriel had started growling again and looked ready to snap. To avoid more bloodshed, O’Neil backed off after making sure the bleeding from Gabriel’s belly wound had slowed. He wanted to cover the Omega and pup with a blanket, but was afraid to do so before Gabriel passed the afterbirth. O’Neil also didn’t want to stress him out too much by getting much closer right then.  

“Good, gods,” O’Neil muttered again as headed for the door. He needed some serious backup.  

Opening it, he was faced by the majority of his team waiting anxiously outside with him as well as a few paramedics. O’Neil stepped into the hallway and quietly closed the door behind him, standing protectively in front of it.

“You are not to make any loud noises or issue any sudden outbursts, understood?” he asked gruffly while eyeing the gathered crowd. Several heads nodded, but O’Neil waited until each person had met his eyes and responded in acquiescence. “I can confirm that we have found Gabriel Latham,” O’Neil immediately held up a hand to stop the questions as several members of his team opened their mouths. “He is alive.” Again, he had to forcefully silence the cheers that threatened to break out. “He’s just given birth and is currently very frightened and on edge.”

The atmosphere in the hallway shifted as his team glanced at each other uncomfortably. They all knew Gabriel was too young to have given birth; it was physically impossible. But they also knew O’Neil would never lie. And even if he would, the scent of newborn pup was heavy in the small space of the bunker. 

One of the paramedics, an Omega, took a step toward the door, obviously anxious to look over the infant and new parent.

O’Neil continued. “Emma and I are going to go back inside now, Tom and Jane, you can prepare a gurney, but wait out here. I don’t want any other Alphas around him until he’s had a chance to calm down.” The two Alpha paramedics nodded and rushed off.

“Cooper,” O’Neil said, making eye contact with the single local officer. “I don’t think your services will be necessary at this time.” The large Alpha looked confused but didn’t argue. “I’d like you to join the other officers outside securing the area. You’ll be vital to making sure that word of this doesn’t get out, because as soon as it does…”

Cooper gave a single nod and a grimace before leaving to do as he was told. Once the local officer was out of earshot, O’Neil’s team began to murmur amongst themselves. O’Neil continued issuing orders before they got too out of hand.

“Kirkpatrick, you’re in charge of keeping the press away until we can get Gabriel safely away. I don’t care what you say, but you have permission to lie your ass off. Jones, start working with the medical facility to arrange a private, Omega-only section secured. It will need to be utterly private and secure as possible. Absolutely no Alphas.”

“On it sir,” Jones said and he and Kirkpatrick darted away.

“The rest of you can wait out here for now, but you’ll have to stay back once we bring him out. I cannot emphasize enough how terrified he is right now.” O’Neil paused and took a deep breath. “I want Cain and Neeva to start questioning the Alphas we found here. Gabriel has a mate mark that rotted pretty severely but has since had medical intervention and healed over, so I’m guessing they murdered his mate fairly quickly after the ritual was completed. But I want to confirm before we move Gabriel too far away in case it was a method of torture and his mate is still alive somewhere nearby.”

Cain and Neeva nodded and shifted as if to head out. “Neeva,” O’Neil said, stopping her from racing off. “Be careful, please, this monster has really done a number on the kid and I-” his voice cracked. 

Neeva smirked, although her eyes were filled with sorrow. “Don’t worry, boss. I’ll give the bastard a taste of his own medicine.”

“He won’t know what hit him,” Cain said; his eyes were devoid of humor even as he grinned at his fellow teammate. 

Satisfied for the moment with the well oiled machine that was his hand picked team, O’Neil motioned Emma to follow him back into the bedroom so she could check on Gabriel’s health and help him deliver the after birth.

XXX

Cody arrived on scene moments after the all clear signal had been given. He’d been waiting in his roller nearby after sneaking out of the station shortly after the commander’s team departed. There was no way in hell he was missing even a moment of this case. 

Stepping out of his roller, he greeted the other local officers as they all waited for someone who knew what was going on to emerge from the bunker. Cody listened as the officers gossiped about the Alphas the National team had dragged out and carted away. Peter was sure one had been Simian, but James wasn’t as confident. 

“I mean, it did look like him…  but I just can’t believe it was him.” James said as he kicked a stone with the toe of his boot. 

“It was him,” Peter reiterated for about the thousandth time as he avidly watched the exit of the bunker. 

A few more minutes passed and then another two of the National boys darted out of the bunker. One jogged to his roller and threw himself inside without so much as a glance in their direction. The other took off toward a different roller and peeled out, following the road in the opposite direction of town. He looked like he was headed for the medical facility that had been selected for any victims or injured targets.  

“Rude,” Cody huffed to himself. Or maybe not, as everyone standing around him nodded. 

“I know that we’re just the locals,” Steve said with a edge of bitterness in his tone, “But this is our town and our territory they’re taking over as if they own the place.” He glared at Cody, waiting for him to argue. 

Cody knew better than to side with the Nationals, openly fucking them was one thing, but agreeing with them when no one of importance was around to hear was quite another. Besides, Steve was just jealous because he’d been sniffing around Cody for the last few weeks since he’d split with his girlfriend after she’d moved to the next town over. His fucking loss, Cody thought. Not that he’d have ever given the Alpha a chance; Steve wasn’t nearly a big enough fish for Cody to have let taste his ass.   

“Shut up, Steve,” Ellen said, without any heat in her voice. 

Steve opened his mouth to argue, when he was silenced by the appearance a new, familiar figure. Everyone straightened as Cooper approached. 

“Hey, Coop,” James said, happy to see a friendly face emerge from the bunker. “You all right?” 

Cooper nodded tightly as he eyed their group, his eyes finally resting on Cody. He quirked a brow but didn’t say anything to him as he turned his attention back to the others. 

“I was sent out to make sure the perimeter was still secure. Low and behold, I find a group of you idiots pooled together and watching the door instead of the road. Get it together, boys and girls,”

Sufficiently reprimanded, the party split into pairs as they spread back out.

“What are they securing the site from?” Cody asked as he fell into line alongside Cooper as the massive Alpha walked toward the roller the National guy had ducked into. 

Cooper looked at him out of the corner of his eye. 

“The media?” Cody guessed as he scanned the empty road. 

Cooper gave a nearly indiscernible nod.   

“Then they found something in there.” Cody said, his voice strained. “Or someone?” 

This time Cooper hesitated, he glanced around, making sure no one else could overhear as he ducked his head and nodded again. 

“Was it…” Cody trailed off, unable to voice the impossible hope. 

Cooper stared at Cody, neither confirming nor denying. 

“I should get back to the station,” Cody hedged as he glanced over his shoulder. 

“Nah, you’d be better off heading to the medical facility they took Simian to.” 

Cody flinched. “So it was Simian.”

“Yup,” Cooper said without elaborating. 

“Everyone’s been gossiping about it being him,” Cody said softly as he lifted his chin in the direction of James and Peter. The Alpha pair had their heads together as they stared cautiously at the road. 

“Figures, don’t know how these National officers figure that they’ll be able to keep all of this quiet.” He shook his head as he arrived at Cody’s roller. He opened the door and waved Cody inside. “Take care, Cody. You’re ambitious, that’s good. But please don’t do anything reckless.” 

Cody held the Alpha’s gaze as he searched his eyes. “Please, Cooper. Can’t you tell me anything else? Did they find someone? Was he a victim or a willing participant? Was there a pup? I can’t go into this blind,” Cody said, his voice tempered with desperation. 

Cooper glanced around before leaning closer. “They found an Omega in labor. O’Neil’s letting him keep the pup so…”

“He’s a victim and not a participant.” Cody concluded, well aware of the commander’s feelings about the Alpha murder’s mate. 

Again, Cooper hesitated, as if he wanted to say something. But after a moment, he shook his head and refused to look back at Cody. “Drive safe, Cody,” he mumbled as he started to close the door.    

“Will do, Cooper,” he replied right before the latch clicked into place. 

The older man gave a soft smile through the window as Cody triggered the engine and urged the roller forward.

Cody waited until he was out of sight down the road before activating the communication link and voicing the code he’d looked up before heading to the bunker. 

“Station 71 hotline, what’s your call about?”

XXX

Gabriel marveled at the soft skin of his pup and he stroked his face and his hair and his tiny toes. He was in pain again, but he didn’t want to upset his sleeping angel, so Gabriel simply lay back and pushed. The afterbirth slipped out of him with a gush of liquid and clotted blood. 

Wincing, Gabriel tried to wiggle away from the mess but found himself lacking the strength to do so. Giving up, he settled into his own filth as he cradled his newborn. 

Stroking a hand down his pup’s back, Gabriel realized his baby was cold, colder than he should be. Whining at his inability to move, Gabriel lifted his pup closer and buried the tiny body in his neck, tucking his chin around the pup’s fragile frame. The pup didn’t move or struggle as Gabriel cupped his naked flesh in his hands, trying to rub some warmth back into him. 

Crying, Gabriel tried to sit up again but failed. He desperately needed help or his angel wasn’t going to make it.  If the pup didn’t make it, Gabriel vowed, then neither would he. 

A few anxious minutes later and Gabriel looked up as the Alpha re-entered the room. The stranger had returned with an Omega and it made him perk up slightly. Omegas were nice. Another Omega wouldn’t hurt him. 

The Omega female smiled at him and he smiled back, it felt good to smile. She would help him, he trusted. She would make it all better. 

The Omega drew closer, smelling of inquisitiveness and peace. When she was near enough, Gabriel presented his pup. He was so proud of the little squishy life he cradled against his neck and wanted to show off.

“Hi, my name is Emma and I’m going to look over your pup quick, is that all right?”

He nodded but didn’t move. She could look all she wanted but she couldn’t take his baby. Gabriel let her touch the pup, but bared his teeth when she got too handsy. He refrained from snapping; the silly Omega only needed a small warning, unlike that menacing Alpha who was still hovering dangerously in the corner.  

Once she’d backed off a little, Gabriel felt himself relax marginally. He’d already counted his infant’s fingers and toes, several times, but he did it again just to make sure. All ten were there. He smiled as his pup’s lips parted in a yawn.

“Your pup is hungry,” the pretty Omega said. “Can I help you sit up so you can feed him?”

Hungry? Perhaps that’s why he was cold. He could fix that; he knew he could do that for his baby. 

Nodding, Gabriel pulled his pup closer so she could move him. He frowned in confusion when she didn’t pick him up to relocate him. Eyeing her, he realized that she was petite, like him, or, well, smaller than he was right now, as fat as he’d gotten. How was she going to move him? His Alphas had been able to haul him around with ease.

His Alphas. Where were they? He wasn’t sure he wanted them around his pup. He sniffed the air but couldn’t scent his mates nearby. He did smell other Alphas, a lot of other Alphas. He whined in dismay and clutched his pup, hiding him under his chin.

Right then another Alpha moved toward him. Gabriel tensed and a low rumble emanated from his chest. He wasn’t entirely certain he had control over his reactions, as the growl surprised him. He didn’t think he’d ever growled at anyone before. 

Gabriel continued to bare his teeth in warning as the Alpha held up his hands and inched closer. He snapped once, but didn’t lash out with his hands, wanting to keep them cradled around his pup’s defenseless body.  

“I’m right here; I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’m just going to have the nice Alpha help me get you into position so you can nurse your pup, okay? That’s all he’s here for, to help me help you and your pup.” Emma’s voice was soothing as she petted his hair and waved the Alpha forward.

Cool hands touched him and Gabriel winced at the contact; it felt wrong, as if his skin were crawling with small insects. But the hands were gone from his body just as his stomach began to feel queasy. 

“Gabriel, are you alright?” 

The earth shook and Gabriel gasped as the other Omega, Emma, said his name. He started crying. It was the first time anyone had said his name in… Gabriel glanced down as his pup. It had been at least eighteen months, probably a little longer since he’d been referred to by the name his parents gave him upon his own birth.

He wished Emma would say it again. Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel. He chanted the sound in his mind. It was strange, the absence had never seemed so glaring before, but it did now in the presence of his name. 

Gabriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted weekly, on Saturdays.


	8. Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be traveling next Saturday and am going to proactively say that the weekly update will be delayed. Expect Chapter 8 on Saturday, November 24.
> 
> Although if that's too long to wait, check out my Tumblr for an update on Wednesday. 
> 
> https://authorinktopaper.tumblr.com/

Chapter 7: Questions

_Doctor’s Notes: It is now believed that Alpha parents bond more deeply with their pups if they are present at the birth and take part in the aftercare. This breaks with thousands of years of tradition that once dictated that birthing was an Omega-only ritual, and that Alphas should instead form a protective barrier outside the birthing arena._

 

After she’d said his name, everything happened as if Gabriel was in some sort of foggy dream. When he finally came back down to earth, Gabriel was upright and leaning against the pillows, the Alpha was back across the room, and his pup nursing greedily on one of his teats. Gabriel blinked; he could now feel the soft sensation of his teat being emptied, but a moment ago he would have said he was floating on a cloud all alone.

Odd, but of little consequence, as Gabriel stroked his infant’s silken cheek.

At some point the other Omega had cleared away the birthing sheets. Gabriel was relieved to find himself laying on a now clean surface. The Alpha started speaking, but Gabriel ignored him. Nothing the Alpha had to say could possibly be as interesting as his pup’s squished face.  

“What about the afterbirth?”

“He delivered it on his own while we were in the hallway. He’s pretty doped up right now on endorphins. But that’s natural.” She hesitated before going on. “The pup looks to be healthy.” The Omega’s warm voice made Gabriel nearly swoon. It felt so good to be back amongst his own.

“And Gabriel?”

Gods, even when the Alpha said his name it made Gabriel shiver. But… that was wrong. Only his Alphas should be allowed to make him shiver. Only, his Alphas had never bothered to learn his name.

Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut as he head throbbed. Gritting his teeth, he pressed back against the feelings of worthlessness and anguish and concentrated instead on the warm little bundle in his arms. He might be a mostly worthless excuse for an Omega, but he was alive and his pup was healthy and in the gods names he was going to try and keep it that way.  

“I can’t really tell,” said Emma, obviously not having notice Gabriel’s lack of attention to his infant. “But there shouldn’t be this much blood.”

“It’s coming from his stomach.”

“Ah,” she said, sounding confused.

Gabriel’s heart pounded in shame at the thought of this perfect Omega discovering his weakness and near-inability to function naturally. What would she think when she discovered Travin had felt it necessary to take their pup from his womb?

Unable to stop her, Emma knelt next to Gabriel and began to clean the blood off his abdomen. Some of it was dried and hurt when she tried to scrub it away.

After a few minutes, she revealed the deep incision on his lower belly. Looking into his face, shock clearly spelled out on her delicate features, Emma demanded, “Gabriel, were you having complications?”

Gabriel shook his head. His face hurt and his throat was too sore to talk. He didn’t feel like explaining anyway. The post-birth glow was mostly worn off and the shame was spiraling him down into darkness.

Emma continued to clean and apply painful pressure in silence until she was able to stop the sluggish bleeding. She bandaged his wound and moved on to examine the rest of him. Gabriel grudgingly put up with her poking and prodding. He was too tired to protest and too afraid of the strange Alpha to stop her although he really didn’t like it when she cleaned between his legs, or slid her gloved fingers inside of him.

“Other than the incision, he seems to be in okay shape,” said Emma after several minutes. “The incision could mean there were complications that we’re not aware of…” she glanced up at Gabriel and then looked away. “It’s hard to tell.” She looked more worried than anything, but Gabriel didn’t trust it. He kept waiting for her to accuse him of being incapable and taking his pup. “But I think he’s capable of being moved. I’m just a paramedic though, maybe you should try to get a real doctor in here-”

“No, your medical advice is sufficient,” the Alpha said brusquely. “Besides, we need to get them out of here before the press arrives. I want this situation contained as much as possible to the facility we have secured.”

Gabriel might have been  out of it, but he wasn’t that out of it. His head snapped up and he made eye contact with the Alpha. He didn’t want to go anywhere with this strange man, or even with Emma, though she seemed nice enough. He squeezed his pup closer and the infant shook a fist at him until he relaxed his grip. Soothed, the baby went back to suckling.

“Gabriel,” the Alpha said softly as he again stepped forward until he was close enough to kneel by the bed.

Gabriel eyed him wearily, suspicious of the Alpha’s submissive posturing.

The Alpha’s voice was impossibly soft and filled with a tone Gabriel couldn’t pinpoint. “We need to get you and your pup out of here and to a medical facility so a doctor can check you both over.”

Emma began to stroke his hair again. It had gotten so long; the thick strands clung to his sweaty skin. A damp cloth appeared in her hands; it smelled of chemicals masked by the soothing scent of lavender. Gabriel didn’t like drugs and didn’t trust her not to try and use some of those chemical on him.

“Gabriel,” the Alpha repeated, and something clicked into place in Gabriel’s mind.  

Kindness. The Alpha’s voice was filled with kindness, Gabriel mused as his eyes started to drift shut.

“Some other paramedics are going to come in soon and help you outside. Would you like to go outside?” the Alpha asked.

Gabriel frowned and looked up at Emma, who smiled as she brushed away his hair and then gasped. “O’Neil,”

The tone of her voice made Gabriel’s shoulders curl inward. He knew exactly what she’d seen.

The Alpha was on his feet and rounding the bed, pressing too close for comfort. Gabriel whimpered as the Alpha demanded, “What?”

“Look at this.” She said and ran her thumb along Simian’s mate mark.

Silence filled the room for full minute until Gabriel’s pup released his teat and began to fuss. Gabriel shied away from the Alpha as he re-adjusted his small bundle so the pup laid within range of his other teat. Happily, the baby continued to nurse, filling a tiny belly full of nutritious milk.

More endorphins flowed through Gabriel’s body even as he struggled to stay awake.

“Gabriel,” the Alpha asked quietly, he was kneeling again, but this time he was a lot closer. “Gabriel, I need to ask you a few questions before we can go anywhere. Can you answer some questions? They’re very important.”

He didn’t really like being spoken to like an idiot, but he wasn’t about to bring up that complaint while this vulnerable. So Gabriel nodded but didn’t look away from his child’s face. He wanted to relish every minute of this peaceful moment. It was the happiest he’d ever been in his entire life. Just like everything else good in his world, it wouldn’t last for long.  

“Gabriel, do you know where your mate is?”

Gabriel shook his head.

“Do you know what happened to him?”

His jaw ached and his throat was dry from screaming. But he answered the question. “You took him,” Gabriel said softly as he stroked his pup’s soft cheek.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Alpha and Omega exchange sidelong glances.

“Okay, Gabriel. Do you know where your other mate went?”

Gabriel shook his head.

“Do you remember the last time you saw your other mate?” Emma asked quietly as she smoothed back his hair.

Gabriel paused to think, “An hour ago. Before you came.” He coughed, rattling his pup enough to fuss. Calming himself, Gabriel held still so his baby could finish suckling.

“Here,” the Alpha said, offering a water bottle from his pack.

Gabriel stared at the Alpha, horrified. There was no way he was drinking anything given to him by a strange Alpha.

Emma cleared her throat and rose. A minute later she came back with a glass of water from the bathroom. Gabriel sipped at it suspiciously for a moment before gulping it down. It appeared both he and his pup were done drinking.  

“There, I’m sure that’s better.” The other Omega said with a smile as she went back to smoothing away his hair.

Again, the Alpha leaned forward and asking, “Gabriel did your mate do that?” he was asking about the second mate mark.

Nodding, Gabriel lifted his pup higher on his chest so nestle under his chin as the newborn cooed and fell asleep.

“Gabriel, I don’t understand, can you explain. Who was the Alpha we found in the bedroom. The blond man?”

“Travin.”

“And who is Travin?” the Alpha pressed, invading Gabriel’s personal space.

Gabriel flashed his teeth and glared, making the Alpha retreat to a more comfortable distance.

After a long moment, Gabriel said, “Travin is my mate.” It didn’t hurt to acknowledge, which in and of itself stung. He’d been admitting it to himself for months; but accepting the matehood in front of others seemed like just as much of a betrayal as denying his mates would have been.

“And the other man, the one we found in the outer room, he has dark hair and eyes. Who is that?”

“Simian.”

“And who is Simian.” The Alpha asked. When Gabriel didn’t answer immediately he added, “Gabriel, who is the other Alpha?”

“My mate.” Gabriel whispered.

The questions continued.

Whose mark was on the left side of his neck? Travin’s.

Whose was on the right? Simian’s. Who was his mate? Travin, Simian.

Who was the father of his pup? He didn’t know. Travin? Simian? He didn’t want to think about it.

Who brought him here? Travin, Simian.

Which one mated with him? Travin, Simian.

Who is his Alpha? Travin, Simian.

The endless cycle of questions with the same answers was exhausting. Gabriel wasn’t sure if they believed him and he didn’t even really care. He knew it was impossible to have two mates at the same time, but he did, and he’d accepted it a long time ago. He didn’t care if this strange Alpha and Omega didn’t understand.

He just didn’t care. Nothing but the angelic pup in his arms mattered.

“Gabriel, were you being held here against your will?”

The question gave Gabriel pause. He opened his mouth and then closed it. Thinking about it. His throat and jaw ached too much to truly explain.

Finally, he said, “I was mated.”

“When was that?”

“It’s the first thing I remember after the club,” he whispered, a tear falling onto his pup’s upturned face. He wiped it away and nuzzled his baby’s head, inhaling the scent of newborn.

“And after that?” the Alpha asked gently.

“Then I was pregnant.”

“Okay,” the Alpha said slowly. “So you didn’t want to be here, but you knew you couldn’t leave without your mate.”

“Mates,” Gabriel corrected him automatically and then coughed. His throat was on fire from all of the talking after spending hours screaming. The glass of water from earlier had been a fleeting remedy.

“Gabriel,” the Alpha hesitated, “Did you want to stay here? With your mates?”

Gabriel let out a single, painful laugh and closed his eyes, fresh tears poured down his cheeks. Gods, he couldn’t believe he was still alive. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be considering the direction of the Alpha’s questions.

The Alpha looked like he wanted to say something more but was interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened a crack and a gorgeous, dark skinned Omega stuck her head into the room. Gabriel thought he’d seen her before, a few minutes ago, but those memories were all hazy from the pain and stress of labor and he was already starting to forget.

Someone had told him once that the hormone rush a new Omega parent felt was meant to erase the memories of pain and suffering so that only the joy of of the new child remained. If that were true, it was certainly working.  

“Boss, you’ve got to get out here,” the new Omega said from the open door.

The Alpha turned back to Gabriel and rose. “Gabriel, I’m going to go now. A couple of other paramedics are going to come in and then we’re going to take you to the medical facility. Emma will stay with you the entire time, okay?”

Gabriel nodded but didn’t look up. The Alpha may have phrased it as a question, but Gabriel didn’t have any more choice in going to the facility than he did in anything else.

XXX

O’Neil stepped outside and made eye contact with Tom and Jane before nodding for them to enter the room. He hoped the Omega was calm enough to handle being around other Alphas because the place was currently swarming with them.

“Report,” he ordered.

Neeva didn’t bristle at his tone; she was far too used to his brusque manner when he was upset. “The first Alpha we found is still out. He was taken to the secured medical facility and is being treated. St. Clare’s got a team of three with him. He’s strapped down and under armed guard and will remain that way unless you give the order to change it.”

O’Neil nodded. He wasn’t sure exactly what role the dark haired Alpha, Simian, had in all of this, but according to Gabriel he was part of this whole mess.

“The other one is refusing to talk to anyone but you,” O’Neil looked at her sharply and she amended her words. “‘The Alpha in charge; the fucker who’d come for his mate’ is how he put it. And he addressed Terry when he said it.”

O’Neil sneered in disgust. Terry was Neeva’s assistant, but he was an Alpha. The disrespect made O’Neil want to punch something.

Neeva waved him off before he could speak up to empower her. He’d sworn to always have her back when sexist fools tried to tear her down.  

“Anyway, we hauled him off to the station. I put a team of eight on him; six of our guys and two locals. Plus whatever other officers were still there when we left. Cain’s in lead.” She paused when O’Neil’s head spun in her direction. “I did call ahead and had them clear out all of the Omega officers; I wasn’t taking any chances.”

“Good,” O’Neil said and then hesitated. “According to Gabriel our suspect’s name is Travin, and the other one, he confirmed, is Simian.”

Neeva processed the information, filing it away for later. “And? Look, boss, something is clearly eating away at you. Spit it out and maybe I can help.”

O’Neil blurted, “He says both Alphas are his mates. Both. He claims Travin, our suspected serial killer, is the one who left his mark to rot while Simian is responsible for a healed mark. It’s just not possible, right?”

“Not outside of myths and legends.” Neeva says slowly. “I mean, there’s the legend of Malachi, but that was one Alpha, two Omegas.”

“Right,” O’Neil said. “It’s a fairy tale.”

“Legend.” Neeva corrected.

“What’s the difference?” O’Neil snapped as the bedroom door swung open.

“Myths and legends are based on grains of truth.”

Gabriel appeared, lying on a gurney with his lap covered by a thick blanket. His sweat damped hair was smoothed back, his duel mate marks clearly on display.

The boy didn’t look up once as he was carried out of the bunker.

O’Neil couldn’t decide if the fragile figure resembled a frightened teenager, or an emblem of Omega strength.   

O’Neil climbed into the back of the ambulance; he was the only Alpha allowed in the confined space with Gabriel. Everyone else from here forward would be an Omega.

Gabriel eyed him O’Neil a moment, but then dismissed him and returned to gazing at his pup. Clearly he still considered O’Neil a threat, but not an imminent one.

Once inside the ambulance, Emma had dressed Gabriel in a hospital gown before wrapping him in a fresh blanket. Jane had also brought out the swaddling so the pup was wrapped up nicely and tucked against his father’s chest. He’d refused to let go of his baby long enough for anyone to show him how to do it so it wasn’t the neatest swaddling, but Gabriel had plenty of time to learn.

O’Neil cleared his throat. “Do you know what name you’re-?”

“No.” Gabriel interrupted and then the overwhelming scent of sadness filled the back of the ambulance. “I promised myself I wouldn’t get too attached,” he whispered and stared off into the distance as the vehicle jolted and them moved forward.

“Why?” O’Neil blurted, earning himself a glare from Emma.

“Because he was always going to be taken from me.” Gabriel paused and shifted his pup. He was more talkative now that he’d come down off the hormone high and Emma had hooked him up to some pain killers she’d promised were pup-safe.

Gabriel had protested meekly; but in the end, Emma had won.  

“Travin was going to kill me as soon as Simian gave up trying to protect me. Once his back was turned Travin was actively trying to gut me.” He paused and his eyes filled with tears as he looked down at the babe. “Now that you’re here, you’ll take him away too.”

“We’re not going to do that.” O’Neil assured him.

Gabriel looked up and stared into his eyes for a long moment. “Yes. You will.” His hopelessness and dull green eyes, so unlike the images O’Neil had associated the young Omega, ate away at him.  

O’Neil glanced away, not sure how to respond, so instead he said,  “You don’t have to call them by their names, if you don’t want to. We can use code names if that’s easier.” He didn’t know why he offered, but it felt right.

Gabriel shrugged and ducked his chin, trying to obscure his neck. “Their names can’t hurt me.”

Emma made eye contact and shrugged as if to say, He’s got a point.

O’Neil cleared his throat and opened his mouth, but Emma’s voice broke the silence first.

“No more questions. Not until he’s been looked at.”

O’Neil frowned.

“You’ll have all the time in the world to ask Gabriel your questions at the medical facility, commander, _after_ he’s been check on by a team of doctors.”

O’Neil still wasn’t convinced and opened his mouth to say so.

“He’s got swelling and signs of severe bruising on both sides of his jaw and cheekbones. I don’t want him verbally responding to any more questions until we know for sure that it won’t cause further harm.”

Pursing his lips, O’Neil conceded. He could feel Gabriel’s eyes starting at him and glanced up. The Omega’s eyes immediately flickered away and he tensed, as if fearing what would happen since he’d been caught looking at O’Neil.

What the fuck had they done to him, O’Neil wondered as dozens of other questions drifted through his mind. Each more painful than the last.

Following Gabriel’s stretcher into the facility, O’Neil paused inside of the doorway as he caught sight of a familiar face.

“What are you doing here?” he asked blunty without an ounce of tact. He immediately kicked himself as a pair of warm brown eyes turned and gazed up at him.

Cody’s eyes were wide with shock, although not at O’Neil’s question, he realized as the Omega’s gaze flickered back in the direction of where Gabriel had disappeared to.

“Helping prep the facility… Cooper suggested I’d be of more help here…” Cody kept trailing off as his brain struggled to answer O’Neil’s question and also process what he’d just seen.

“Did he now,” O’Neil said dryly.

He was again struck with the full force of Cody’s bright eyes when the Omega finally managed to focus and return to their conversation.

“Who was that?”

O’Neil’s lips pursed but the Omega took a step closer despite his withdraw. “Commander,”

“Haiden,” O’Neil said abruptly before he could stop himself.

Cody’s eyes flickered before he looked down. O’Neil thought the Omega had been pleased, but his next words seemed to counteract that idea.

The Omega straightened his spine, drawing himself up to full height. He was still at least a foot shorter than O’Neil. It would have been comical if not for the determined and serious look on the young man’s face.

“Commander O’Neil,” he repeated and O’Neil shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the business tone Cody was using. It was drastically different from the tone he’d used when they’d been fucking, or even from his serious yet light tone from before during their quest to gain insight about the bunker. “It would help me best serve the Safety and Security of this facility if I were aware of the circumstances under which the Omega who was just brought through is under. Is he a suspect? Or a victim.”  

“Victim.” O’Neil said brusquely.

“Thank you,” Cody replied just as curt as he brushed by O’Neil and strode down the hall.

O’Neil watched the tight ass he’d had his face buried in earlier until it disappeared. Somehow he doubted he’d be seeing much more of it.

XXX

Cody wasn’t sure he’d ever been more furious in his entire life. He couldn’t believe he’d just pissed off his best chance at a promotion by acting like a prissy little bitch!

Fuck!

Well, it was done now and unless he could get back on the Alpha’s good side, he needed to pursue other opportunities. Whipping out his mobile connector, he entered the code for the news station he’d made contact with earlier.

“Do you have more information?” a sugar-sweet voice purred from the other end of the connection.

“Perhaps,” he replied, allowing his voice to flow like syrup to match honeyed tone of his contact.

“Care to share?”

“Not until you’ve wired two thousand cash chips to my account.”

The person on the other end of the line sputtered and then growled. The Alpha was apparently done trying to woo Cody and went on the attack instead. “We will get the information with or without you; we don’t have to pay you for it.”

Cody waited in silence for several moments, but his contact was caught in his bluff when he didn’t end the connection.

Emboldened, Cody smirked as he spoke. “Transfer the chips and I’ll do more than tell you the full name of the Alpha arrested. I’ll give you his location, which happens to be the same site as his victim… his living victim…. and their pup.”

The Alpha gasped and then fell silent for a full minute.

Cody waited patiently; he knew for damn sure no one else would have the information he was offering so he demanded they pay him for it.

“What’s the account number?” the Alpha asked, his voice business professional. There was no lingering trace of his earlier flirtation.  

Cody smiled brightly. Finally, something was going right!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted weekly, on Saturdays.


	9. Longing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience! Here's the next chapter of Gabriel: Recovery!
> 
> PS I've officially uploaded Cody's profile onto Tumblr: authorinktopaper

Chapter Eight: Longing

_Breaking News: A tip was called into our hotline from Brickton, a town of eight thousand in the Western providence that the Omega Slasher has finally been caught. He is being detained along with another Alpha, a resident of the small Brickton community. At this time we do not have many details, although our source has reported one living victim and a newborn pup. It is with heavy hearts that we again speculate that the long-missing Gabriel Latham is being presumed dead. Our investigators are searching for possible abductions of Omegas who were close to or above the age of first Heat in the time period closely following Gabriel’s disappearance._

 

Gabriel sort of greyed out when the Alpha lifted him out of the ambulance and set him in a chair; the next thing he knew he was being wheeled into a facility with white walls and terrible artwork. He figured he was at a medical facility. His feeling was confirmed a moment later when a flood of doctors and nurses spilled into the room and the nice Omega, Emma, disappeared. Even the Alpha - who he definitely didn’t trust, but hadn’t hurt him - also vanished into thin air.

He was wheeled into a room and practically thrown onto a cot. He scented for aggression, but only smelled other Omegas. It should have been more of a relief, but with everything else going it really wasn't. His robe was stripped away and hands pressed against his skin without warning. Gabriel took a shaky breath and tried to focus; it wasn’t easy, he was tired and the let down from the after-birth hormones was getting to him. Not to mention the odd, unfamiliar odor of the sterile room and about a dozen other Omegas.

Gabriel had been cooped up in his den for the better part of two years, surrounded by the scent of his mates. It didn’t matter that he’d never considered it home and had never felt safe there, it only mattered that it had been familiar and all of this change so close after his birth was terrifying.

It had been a really long time since Gabriel had been to a medical facility. He’d always been a fairly healthy child, never catching any colds or stomach bugs. He’d never broken a bone or pulled a muscle as a youth. Something else that had certainly changed.  

Gabriel bit back a whine as his senses were continuously confronted by the unfamiliar surroundings and people. He was uncomfortable being surrounded by so many strangers; he tried to remind himself that all of them were Omegas to force himself to relax. Until one of them tried to take his baby.

Snarling and snapping, Gabriel didn’t even hesitate as he launched himself through the crowd and dove under the cot, naked and cowering while clutching his swaddled newborn protectively. He couldn’t have stopped himself from snapping even if he’d wanted to try.  

A doctor, distinguishable by his white coat, yelped and stared at his bloody hand from where Gabriel had bitten him. Everyone had gone still.  

“Um, perhaps we allow Mr. Latham to keep his pup until he’s ready to let us look at him.” A nurse said as she carefully coaxed Gabriel out from under the cot.

Once he was re-seated, the assault continued. One stranger stepped forward and brushed the hair off of Gabriel’s neck to get a closer look; prodding painfully at the scar tissue. A different set of hands maneuvered his jaw as a third set forced him to lie flat.

Gabriel was shaking uncontrollably as hands pressed against his stomach and others lifted his knees. Fingers flickered inside of his entrance before being replaced by a cold object that pressed deep.

Gasping for air, the voices continued to call out orders, but Gabriel tuned out as a fog fell over his hearing and vision. One of his arms was drawn downward, leaving him impaled and pinned with only one limb to protect his pup.

Gabriel hadn’t realized he’d started crying until a kind voice broke through the fog. As his sight cleared, he realized he was staring up into the warm eyes of a nurse who was petting him and whispering that everything was going to be okay.

Gabriel wanted to believe her until he felt a sharp prick on the inside of his arm. He stiffened in shock before reacting and yanking his limb away. He started thrashing when the doctors and nurses tried to hold him down. He had to stay awake, to get away; he wanted to go back under the cot.

Gabriel was screaming like a banshee when some finally got everyone else’s attention.

“Hey!” the Alpha voice boomed, causing everyone except Gabriel to shrink back. “Everyone back off. Now!”

Gabriel was too hyped to be more afraid that he already was. As soon as the hands were gone he curled up into the smallest, tightest ball he could around his pup.

“Hey,” the voice said again, must softer.

Gabriel blinked and turned his face to see the Alpha who’d been there at his delivery. What had he said his name was? Aiden? No, Haiden, Haiden O-something.

“Only one doctor at a time,” the Alpha said while making eye contact, although Gabriel didn’t think it was directed at him.

The white coats all started shouting over one another in protest.

“He’s not in danger of bleeding out, is he?” the Alpha demanded.

Silence.

His tone left no room for bargaining. “Then only one doctor at a time. And talk him through what you’re doing to him, he’s not a fucking science experiment.”

Not anymore, Gabriel thought darkly as the room cleared except for one doctor and the nurse from before. She’d never left his side, not even when the Alpha had shouted. It was the only reason he’d stayed on the cot, rather than diving back for the floor.

The remaining doctor cleared her throat. “I need internal scans of his face. I’m afraid his jaw and cheekbones could be cracked. It’s urgent we find out the damage.”

Gabriel gripped his son. His wonderful pup. His amazing little angel who hadn’t once protested or drawn attention to himself while Gabriel was surrounded by potential enemies.

XXX

Gabriel laid back quietly while the doctor covered his torso and the newborn with a protective cape before scanning his face and disappearing. As soon as she was gone a different doctor returned with a large wand shaped instrument already coated in gel.

“You should give him some privacy during this part,” the nurse suggested as she maneuvered Gabriel’s legs so his feet were pressed to the table and his knees splayed open.

O’Neil turned around and stared at the wall as the doctor spoke in a soothing tone, explaining that the device was to check Gabriel’s internal healing after the birth. It took about half an hour before he too cleared Gabriel and left.

A third doctor entered, grumbling about being made to wait, as he zeroed in on Gabriel’s stomach laceration. It had stopped bleeding on the ambulance ride over, but started up when Gabriel had been tossed around like some sort of medical dummy by every Omega doctor in this stupid place.  

“How did this happen?” one of the stupid doctors asked bluntly.

O’Neil turned, ready to bite the guy’s head off, when Gabriel answered, “My mate was impatient.”

The doctor paused and O’Neil saw his hands tremble slightly until he clenched them into fists. When he opened them a second later, the tremor was gone.

“The last doctor said there was nothing wrong with you internally, so I’m going to guess that your mate was a bastard and go ahead and close this up with some quick stitches.”

A lyrical noise, more beautiful than anything O’Neil had ever heard before, filled the room for the briefest of seconds as Gabriel laughed softly. O’Neil wasn’t sure who was more shocked: him, the doctor, or Gabriel himself.

“It will hurt without-”

“No anesthetic.” Gabriel said, finishing the doctor’s sentence.

O’Neil had to hand it to the boy, he wasn’t stupid and he wasn’t going to give up the limited control he had over the situation without a fight.

The doctor hesitated, probing the angry looking wound, before sighing and getting to work. A less tense silence followed as the doctor sewed up the deep cut. After he’d finished and left, the first doctor returned to tell Gabriel that his jaw was cracked, but his cheekbones were only currently bruised.

O’Neil had caught the ‘currently’ and ‘only’ and had to ask, “What do you mean _currently_?”

The doctor glanced at him out of the side of her eyes, but her attention remained on Gabriel as she elaborated. “Your facial scan showed signs of repeated abuse… a lot of it recent… but extending as far back as-”

“Twenty-one months?” O’Neil guessed, knowing the exact amount of time Gabriel had been missing.

Gabriel frowned slightly at that timeline, but didn’t make a comment.

The doctor nodded her head imperceptibly at O’Neil before speaking to Gabriel. “A period extending longer than eighteen months.”

The Omega stared back at the doctor, almost blankly, as if waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t, he finally nodded. “Yeah, pretty much from the beginning.” Gabriel’s voice was low and thready, as if the very effort to speak was a monumental accomplishment. It probably was.  

“Yes, well,” the doctor fiddled with something on the screen next to Gabriel. “I’ve ordered a full body scan so we can account for any other damage.”

Gabriel was already shaking his head no before she could finish, holding his baby tighter to his chest. It seemed that the idea of having to subject himself to further tests was the straw the broke the cooperative camel’s back.  

“Right…” the doctor agreed without even trying to persuade Gabriel differently. “How about some food first? I’m sure you’re hungry. After that we can send someone else in to do some more area scans.”

O’Neil watched as Gabriel blinked before glancing down at his stomach. A moment later he look up and nodded.  

“Amy?” the doctor said, turning to the Omega nurse.

“A bowl of soup?” the nurse offered. She started typing something into a nearby panel as soon as the doctor responded in the affirmative.

Before she left, the doctor applied some sort of quick drying gel to Gabriel’s face. O’Neil followed her out into the hall to give Gabriel some time to relax while he ate. He seemed to have calmed down considerably. O’Neil couldn’t fault the boy for his fear, not when he’d been terrified too.   

“Doctor,” he called when the woman stopped right outside the door where the other attending physicians were gathered.

They all looked like a bunch of school children exchanging gossip. Except these were professionals exchanging information about a very damaged patient.  

“Yes, commander?” the doctor responded wearily, stepping away from her colleagues although she needn’t have bothered. Everyone was pretending to look busy while listening intently.  

“How-” O’Neil had to pause to collect his thoughts. “You said a lot of the abuse including the most recent fracture to his face were new. During pregnancy new?”

The doctor hesitated, her weight shifting from foot to foot. “Yes, some of the abuse is very recent. The crack in his jaw and the current bruising to his face likely happened within the last twenty-four hours.”

O’Neil’s stomach dropped. He could have stopped this. He could have sent the team in earlier. Helped Gabriel sooner. But he hadn’t. He’d waited and now the boy had a broken jaw and bruised cheekbones on top of whatever else the fuck had been done to him.

Fuck. Anger wouldn’t do that poor boy any good right now; he needed to remain calm.

“How?” O’Neil demanded, resting his clenched fists on his hips.

The doctor hesitated again before offering, “If I knew a bit more about the situation…”

O’Neil’s team had purposefully kept things quiet. But every one of the doctors had recognized Gabriel the moment he’d arrived. They  had to know the biological impossibility of the pregnancy, even when there was no denying it.

O’Neil chewed through which information to offer before saying, “We’re not completely sure yet. I need to question him more deeply… but,”

“But you were worried about his jaw. Yes, the paramedic reported that.”

“Right.” O’Neil said curly, hoping that’s all Emma had revealed. “You also saw he has two mate marks.”

“Of course, but I’m not equipped to deal with the emotional trauma of a dead mate-”

“He’s not dead.” O’Neil said, cutting her off. “Neither of them are.”

The doctor paled slightly. “Neither?”

“Gabriel claims that both of the Alpha bastards we found with him are his mates. And that they’re both the father of the pup.”

“Both,” the doctor repeated as she glanced down at the scan of Gabriel’s face.

“Doc,” O’Neil’s voice wavered. “How could an Alpha do that to his pregnant mate?” he asked while running his thumb over the image of Gabriel’s battered cheekbone. “How could another Alpha let someone else do this to his mate?”

The doctor stared off into the distance for a moment before responding. “Abusive Alpha personalities are… far more likely to go after pregnant Omegas.” She paused before continuing. “It’s rare, of course, but the majority of reported Alpha attacks against Omegas occur when the Omegas are pregnant. No one is really sure why.”

“Even Omegas carrying the Alpha’s own pup?” O’Neil demanded.

The doctor shook her head, tearing up slightly. She looked frantic and confused rather than sad. “This Alpha… Alphas, should never have been able to get Gabriel pregnant. And not just because of his age.” She paused and flicked an image of a scan onto the screen on the wall, showing it to O’Neil. “These scans prove that someone hated that poor boy which: A, only really fucked up Alphas feel that way about Omegas; B, Alphas that fucked up _never_ mate because they’d never be able to create the biological connection needed with an Omega they despised this much to sire a pup.”

“Then _how-_ ”

“I have no fucking clue,” the doctor said, slamming her hand against the wall next to the screen. The image of Gabriel’s horrifyingly battered face disappeared. “I think that’s going to be your job, commander.” She said after a minute. “Because our medical knowledge alone isn’t going to be able to explain whatever the fuck those Alphas did to him.”

Right. It was his job to find out what the monsters had done to Gabriel. Find out and make sure it could never be done again to anyone else.

XXX

Gabriel had just been given a bowl of clear broth when the longing hit him. The spoon clattered to the floor as he started to cry. Sensing something was off, his pup began to fuss in his arms. He carefully adjusted his wrappings before leaning back against the pillows, food forgotten.

Exhaustion washed over Gabriel. He hadn’t slept since before going into labor; he’d been too scared, surrounded by too many strangers who he feared would take his pup at any moment. He also hadn't showered and felt disgusting. Dried sweat and fluids covered his entire body. His belly and channel also hurt, but he was ignoring the pain just like he was going to ignore the pain in his heart.

More doctors had slipped inside his room after the last one left with Alpha. But after being promised food, Gabriel was in no mood to let them near. He’d started growling again and swatting at the white coats until one by one they’d all backed away. Only his faithful little nurse had remained, and she’d refrained from speaking or touching Gabriel beyond wrapping him in a blanket, setting up a lap tray, and placing the warm bowl of soup in front of him.

Gabriel gritted his teeth and his eyes fluttered closed. The craving was nearly unbearable. Gabriel needed his mates, but he didn’t want them. His post-pregnancy hormones were screaming for the Alphas who’d impregnated him. Crying out for the support his mates should be there to offer. His body wanted the protection Alphas were supposed to provide their Omegas and pups.

Gabriel began to cry.

The nurse, who’d rushed over as soon as he dropped his spoon, tried to coddle him. Stroking his hair and rubbing his shoulder. But it was no use. His body longed for the firm touch of his Alphas, not the gentle fingers of another Omega.  

The Alpha, who everyone kept calling ‘commander,’ entered the room and stepped too close into Gabriel’s comfort zone. Gabriel snapped until the Alpha stepped back a bit, holding his hands up in a placating manner.

“Sorry, I just wanted to see what the problem was?”

Gabriel swiped at his eyes and looked away. “I need my mates.” He whispered, clutching his pup closer to his neck, hoping to protect the tiny infant from the dangerous world he’d been born into.

The commander inhaled sharply but didn’t respond for a moment. Finally, he said, “We brought one of them here. The dark haired one. He’s still unconscious, so if should be safe to see him...”

Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t want to leave my pup.”

“He’s unconscious… you could-”

“I’m not taking my pup anywhere near him." Gabriel said fiercely before the commander could offer to allow his pup into the same room as Simian, or to leave him behind. “But I can’t leave him.” Gabriel added, his bottom lip trembling. “Not yet.”     

The Alpha fell silent for a little while then asked, “So what are you going to do?”

“Suffer.” Gabriel responded softly, staring down at the face of his precious child. It was the least he could do, after all, they were only in this situation because of him. Because of his terrible choices and inability to resist.

Dumb, stupid whore.

The commander didn’t respond but didn’t leave the room either. As long as he didn’t get too close, Gabriel didn’t really mind his presence. He'd gotten used to being around dangerous Alphas.

XXX

O’Neil cleared his throat, hoping to do away with some of the tension and awkwardness. “Gabriel,” he started. “Is there anyone you’d like me to contact for you?”

Gabriel stared at him blankly.

“Like your parents?” O’Neil offered.

He watched the boy’s face close off. The silence stretched as Gabriel stared off into the distance, O’Neil wanted to give him plenty of time to think.

Slowly, the boy shook his head. “No,” Gabriel whispered. “I really don’t want them here right now.” His entire body shuddered as his chest began to heave with silent sobs.

O’Neil had never felt so helpless in his entire life. He had no idea how to convince Gabriel that having his parents here would be a good thing; or how to reason with the boy to figure out why he was reluctant to see them.

Finally settling on one point of attack, O’Neil said slowly,  “Gabriel, you didn’t do anything wrong. None of this is your fault.” The boy didn’t look up or react to his words. “I’m going to keep repeating it until you believe it,” he promised.

That made Gabriel glance up. “Then you’re going to be repeating it for a very long time.”

O’Neil watched as Gabriel withdrew again and concentrated on his pup.

“I’m going to eventually have to contact them.”

Gabriel started to shake his head but O’Neil rushed to finish.

“Gabriel, you’re still underage.”

The boy glanced up, a wary bemusement on his face as he cast a deliberate look between his pup and O’Neil.

He cleared his throat for the millionth time. “You’ve yet to go through your first true Heat; the court will likely still find you underage.”

Gabriel shook his head. “No,” he disagreed. “No. And I don’t want them here, not right now, just… no.”

O’Neil sighed and decided it wasn’t worth arguing over anymore. At least not right then when they had bigger issues to deal with.

“Gabriel,”

The Omega let out a sob of frustration and his face twisted in pain and anger. “Please, can you just stop? I don’t want to talk about my mates, I don’t want to think about my parents. I just want to try and relax and care for my pup.”

O’Neil’s mouth opened and closed and he had to make a concentrated effort to shut it and keep his lips sealed as the boy continued to cry. It was the first time he’d seen the Omega break down, something, he sensed, didn’t occur often.

After several minutes, Gabriel quieted and his pup started fussing. The new parent instinctively responded by lowering the blanket and aiding the infant in latching to one of his teats.

O’Neil had been impressed by Gabriel's quiet strength since rescuing him from that bunker, more so now after witnessing a sliver of the terrible anguish the boy was holding inside.

Gabriel was trying to keep it all together to he could care for his pup. O’Neil needed to back the fuck off and let Gabriel do his job, even if it meant delaying his own.

XXX

After his pup quieted, Gabriel looked up to eye the Alpha as he invaded his space again. He looked like he was trying to appease Gabriel’s nerves, but it wasn’t working. Even while doing his best to appear nonaggressive, the Alpha was still huge. Broad shoulders, long legs, and dressed entirely in black, the Alpha would have made an attractive picture if not for the presence of the babe sleeping in Gabriel’s arms and the sensation of mate-longing rolling through his body.

“Gabriel, you’ve just given birth.”

Okay, obvious much, Gabriel thought and rolled his eyes as he transferred his pup to the other teat. He knew he should care that the commander was witnessing the intimate bond between Omega and pup, but he didn’t; he’d given up on any expectation of privacy after strangers had started shoving their fingers in his rear.

The commander chuckled. “Okay, okay, I know that was dumb, but a guy’s gotta start somewhere, right?”

Gabriel didn’t answer, but he some of the tension eased out of his shoulders. He didn’t know why, but he was starting to trust this Alpha. Well, perhaps not trust, but he was starting to not feel sheer panic at his presence like he felt at the thought of any other Alpha coming near him… including his mates.

Gabriel had never felt this way before. Before matehood, he’d always viewed Alphas as safe, and even after Travin and Simian, Gabriel hadn’t viewed all Alphas as a danger. He glanced down at his pup. Apparently fatherhood had changed more than just his bloated shape.

“The doctors are really anxious to finish checking you over, Gabriel. You’re exhausted and no offense,” the Alpha grinned sheepishly, “But you really need a shower.” He stopped for a moment, gauging Gabriel’s reaction, before continuing. “And maybe after you’ve been checked out, and your baby has been checked out and both of you have gotten some rest,” he paused again and met Gabriel’s eyes. “And you’ve had more time to think… you’d like to talk about what happened.”

Gabriel teared up and looked away. “I, I don’t, I just can’t,”

“Take your time, Gabriel. No one is rushing you. Baby steps, one tiny thing at a time.”

Somewhat mollified, Gabriel leaned back against his pillows heavily. “A shower would be really nice. I haven’t showered in… a long time.”

The Alpha shifted uncomfortably and Gabriel laughed humorlessly.

“I’m not allowed to do that either.” He said without bitterness. “They’re afraid I’ll fall?” Gabriel guessed.

The commander nodded, “Yeah, basically.” He sounded appealingly sheepish.

Sighing, Gabriel dipped his head in acceptance. “Well at least one thing will be familiar.” He stroked his pup’s cheek, aware that the baby was still quite dirty from being inside Gabriel only hours before. “If I take a bath, can I keep my pup with me? Wash him myself?”

The Alpha glanced over at the nurse in askance and she shrugged.

“I can ask the doctors, but I don’t see why that would be a problem.”

“Okay.” Gabriel said softly.

“I’ll get a couple more nurses in here to assist you,” the Alpha replied as he stood.

Gabriel watched him leave. When the door closed he realized he was alone for the first time in days. Glancing down at his angel, he smiled. Maybe he wasn’t so alone after all.

The smile slid away and Gabriel continued to stare at his pup as his brain whirled. The infant was sleeping safely in his arms for now. He’d be completely alone again soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be uploaded on Saturdays.


	10. Bathtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An entire chapter of Gabriel's POV!

**Chapter Nine: Bathtime**

_Doctor’s Note: Pups born into traumatic situations often suffer from distress disorders that will persist into early childhood and sometimes the teen years if not properly reassured by parents or guardians. It is essential that pups born in to less than ideal circumstances be treated with great care to prevent lingering damage to their mental or emotional states._

 

Bathing must be considered a highly dangerous ritual, Gabriel thought, as a whole herd of nurses and a couple of doctors descended upon him. Two of the nurses helped him out of bed and into a wheel chair so he could be transported the ten feet to the bathroom. Gabriel wanted to insist that he could walk… but yeah, that would have been a lie.

They’d offered him a robe or a gown, but Gabriel thought it was rather stupid to put something on, get it dirty for all of thirty seconds of wear, only to take it off for his bath. But when he’d told them that, the doctors all seemed surprised by his lack of modesty. It was only pure exhaustion that kept Gabriel from rolling his eyes at the doctors as he was instead rolled into the rather sizable bathroom.

After spending – well, actually he had no idea how long it had been, over a year and half it took to cook his pup at least – naked or ready to have his clothes torn off at any moment, nudity no longer bothered him. Especially not among other Omegas that presented no threat to him as long as they didn’t make any moves toward his infant.

The tub one of those ones that elders used, with the door in the side. With help, Gabriel stood and stepped into it, clutching his pup to him the entire time. Carefully, he unwrapped his precious bundle and handed the soiled fabric over. Against his thighs his pup wiggled in his sleep, causing Gabriel to grin. There wasn’t much space for his child in his lap, his belly was still bloated and puffy, but they made do.

The Omega medical staff seemed determined to give him some semblance of privacy and were all making deliberate efforts to look away as the tub filled with water. Warmth swirled around Gabriel’s ankles and steadily rose until it was brushing his hips. He’d lifted his pup higher as the water levels rose, wanting to make sure the temperature would be okay for his little angel.  

“Turn it off please,” he whispered as he laid his pup back in his lap. The warm water barely lapping at the baby’s skin.

“Here’re some newborn-safe soaps,” a nurse said softly as she set a basket on the table within reach. “And a washcloth.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel mumbled without looking up.

It was only after all of the doctors and nurses stepped away that Gabriel started to relax and accept that they wouldn’t try to snatch away his pup at the smallest sign of weakness.

His pup was starting to stir. His little arms and legs squiggled as he tested the substance around him. Gabriel smiled as he wet a cloth and lathered it with soap before running it over his son’s delicate flesh. His pup was so sweet, so calm and happy even when introduced to unfamiliar and reasonably terrifying elements such as sudsy bathwater. His son was so brave.

His son. His. His pup and no one else’s.

Gabriel laughed as his son’s legs splashed in the water and his face scrunched up in frustration at being unable to kick it way. Such a little beauty, his pup.

“Gabriel?”

“Hmm?”

“We have a towel and blanket ready to go if you’d like to dry him and wrap him up.”

Gabriel looked up and saw that the nurses had wheeled over an infant bassinet. He looked back and forth between it and his pup for a second before nodding. “Okay, but no one touches the cart, got it?”

“Of course,” the two remaining nurses stepped back as if to show that they weren’t going to leave to room in case he needed them, but the wouldn’t interfere otherwise.

Carefully, Gabriel sat as the tub emptied and dried his baby off before swaddling him. Then, reluctantly, he laid him down in the bassinet amongst the soft, warm blankets. He glanced up nervously as one of the nurses stepped forward.

“I’m going to add fresh water to your bath,” he explained gently as he tested the temperature; it was warmer this time. “Here, these soaps are specifically designed for new Omega parents.” The nurse said as he set down a different basket beside Gabriel.

He was careful not to brush the bassinet as he moved around, not that it would have mattered with the death grip Gabriel was keeping on it. Gabriel was relieved when the nurse finally stepped away, but didn’t relax his hold on the bassinet until the other Omega had turned off the water and moved back across the room.

Forcing himself to let go, Gabriel sank back into the warm water until it swelled over his belly and chest. It was only when the liquid turned discolored that Gabriel started to realize how filthy and sore he was. Giving birth was hard work!

He scrubbed every inch of his skin, including his hole and passage, which had returned to its original purpose after his cervix had closed up. He’d be tender for weeks and on a mostly liquid diet in order to keep the use of his passage to a minimum.

After cleaning his body, he asked if he could get fresh water to wash his hair. He felt guilty about the request, but desperately wanted to feel clean. The Omega nurse didn’t even blink as he drained the tub and refilled it quickly before offering Gabriel a new washrag.

Only the gods knew how many minutes later, Gabriel was a pruney mess, but felt cleaner than he had in… well, again, he didn’t really know how long it had been since he felt this clean. Washing with Travin had never had a rejuvenating effect on him and he’d never been able to relax on the rare occasions he’d been allowed to bathe alone.

The nurses wanted to help Gabriel out of the tub, but he refused until he’d toweled himself off and wrapped a blanket around his hips, scooping up his pup. Only then would he let them help him back into the wheelchair. Gabriel thought it was all a bit excessive; after all, there was no way in hell he’d have been treated this differentially with his mates.

His mates. Gabriel’s entire body clenched and his heart pounded as he let out a shudder and tried to relax.

Back in the bedroom he noticed the sheets on the cot had been changed and two new Omega doctors were waiting for him.

“More?” he asked, resigned to further inspection.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.” The first doctor said softly as she took over wheelchair steering duty.

The commander had yet to reappear, but it was clear the rule of ‘one at a time’ was no longer being followed. Gabriel wasn’t sure he had the energy to care.

“We’d really like to check your pup, Gabriel. And take another look at you.” The other doctor coaxed as he stroked Gabriel’s hair.

Sighing, Gabriel asked, “Who would you like to see first. Me or the pup?”

The doctors shared a surprised look and then the female answered, “We can look over both of you at the same time, Gab-”

“Not an option.” He cut her off. Just because he was at this medical facility under the lock and key of a personal commander didn’t mean he was going to allow these doctors to walk all over him.

“The pup them,” the male Omega doctor said gently as he motioned for the nurse to bring Gabriel over to the side of the bed.

Gabriel was glad they didn’t argue. Whatever gel had been spread on his jaw earlier had washed away in the bath and it was starting to ache again.

The doctor dropped the mattress slightly, so it was low enough for Gabriel to prop up his elbows comfortably while he remained sitting in the wheelchair. Carefully, Gabriel laid his pup on the bed in front of him and unwrapped his precious bundle. He was nervous, but also extremely proud and his innate desire to want to show off his pup to the other Omegas was beginning to emerge once more. It was an ancient instinct from the days when Alphas had been more removed from when society had been more segregated, especially during childbirth, and Omegas clustered together to care for each other and their young.  

“He’s beautiful,” said one of the Omega nurses.

Gabriel preened at the praise as he nuzzled his son’s soft belly with his cheek and was squiggled at for his trouble. He smiled softly and inhaled the scent of his son; he’d know his child anywhere and forever.

“Have you thought what you’re going to name him?” piped up the other nurse.

Gabriel’s heart clenched and he almost refused to answer. Finally he nodded, although he refrained from elaborating as he focused all of his attention on the doctors who were touching his pup. Strange devices were run over his baby’s face and body, his limbs were prodded and maneuvered, and tiny wands were stuck in his mouth, nose and ears. One of the doctors wanted to take his pup’s temperature by sticking something up his tiny butt; neither the baby nor Gabriel had liked that part.

All in all, the pup didn’t react in anger or distress; he was such as good baby, Gabriel thought with a smile as he stroked a foot and counted each toe. Ten, like always. He placed a gentle kiss on the bottom of the wee appendage.   

“Can you tell his sex?” he asked as the doctors started to finish up.

“With some pups it’s very clear within hours. Others don’t show signs of their sex until they are a few days old.” The female Omega doctor answered noncommittally.

Gabriel gave her a long look before turning to the other doctor. “Can you tell his sex?”

The male Omega shook his head. “Not conclusively, but if I had to guess-”

“Doctors don’t guess about things that are readily apparent in due time,” the other doctor interrupted, her tone stern and disapproving and her glare just as biting.

The male doctor cleared his throat but continued after making eye contact with Gabriel. “If I had to guess, I’d say he was an Omega. He’s extremely calm, which isn’t a natural state for Alpha pups who’ve had… difficult births.”

Gabriel nodded but didn’t say anything. From his neglected health education he knew most pups were identifiable at birth, but not one hundred percent of the time. Personality wasn’t the only way to determine sex, but it was often the first indicator.

After a moment, the female doctor spoke again. “I don’t want you to go around telling everyone you have an Omega pup, because, while I agree with my colleague,” she paused, “About temperament often predicting sex… I don’t think he’s an Omega.”

Gabriel looked at her without expression, waiting for her to explain.

She shrugged. “I don’t have any reason to think otherwise, it’s more of a,” she waived her hand, “Feeling.”

Both doctors stepped back and gave Gabriel some room to process the information.

Re-swaddling his son, Gabriel murmured, “I know what you mean.”

And he did; he’d thought his pup was an Alpha from the moment he’d first held him. Sometimes a father just knew. But Gabriel had wanted a second opinion and wished the doctors could confirm it as he was no longer confident in his perceptions about anything anymore.  

The doctors made eye contact again. It seemed that neither had wanted their patient to react negatively to an Alpha pup after the horrific experience he’d had with his mates. But Gabriel was ready to accept his baby no matter his sex. His son was not his sire.

Finally, the male doctor spoke. “Gabriel, we need to examine you again.”

“Should I lay down, like last time?”

Again, Gabriel’s response seemed to surprise them. “No…” said one of the doctors. “We need to conduct a more thorough examination. We’re very worried about the status of your womb due to your… age.” She finished lamely, as if not sure of the correct way to explain that sixteen year old Omegas weren’t supposed to be able to get pregnant.

Gabriel squeezed his eyes closed. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that his pup’s birth might have taken away his ability to ever have another baby later on. He hadn’t realized that was something he wanted until the idea of it being gone was placed in his head. The room seemed to be spinning so Gabriel opened his eyes, trying to focus on a spot on the wall.

Did he really want another pup? He tried to imagine it… and all he could think about was Travin slamming him face first down on the padded bench and Simian pressing him against the rough wall. The thoughts were neither comforting nor sickening due to Gabriel’s odd mixture of hatred and the ties of his mate bond.

Biting his lip, Gabriel re-focused on his current surroundings. Both doctors were staring at him worriedly.

“Okay,” he said, unable to verbalize anything else in that moment.

“We’ll need you to lie down,” the doctor said and then hesitated. His eyes flickered to his colleague before going back to Gabriel. “If you lay on your back you’ll need to put your pup back in the bassinet.”

Gabriel’s head popped up and he hugged his son closer. His eyes darted back and forth between the doctors as he shook his head frantically. “I can’t, not again so soon after… I just can’t.” Now he felt sick and his heart was racing.

“The other option,” the female doctor said gently, “Is on your stomach. You’ll have to be up on your knees so we can examine you, but the pup can lie on the bed so you can see and reach him.”

Gabriel didn’t even need time to think. “If you keep the Alphas out. I don’t mind being on my knees,” it wasn’t quite true, but he wasn’t going to be parted from his pup during what he was sure was going to be another traumatic experience.

“Of course, this ward is highly secure. No Alphas - other than Commander O’Neil - are being allowed back here right now; and the commander knows to stay away until we give the ‘all clear.’”

Somewhat mollified, Gabriel nodded and placed his pup back in the center of the mattress. The newborn was propped up on the pillow, staring up at his father with large eyes. Gabriel hadn’t been around a ton of babies, but he thought they usually made more of a fuss. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried or not. He was mostly not, at the moment at least, because it meant that Gabriel could hide them both if he needed to without his pup crying out and giving away their location. Sweet angel boy.

Gabriel allowed the nurses to help him crawl onto the bed and positioned himself on his knees, dropping forward so he was resting on his elbows; he still couldn’t put his full weight on his arm.

He wasn’t presenting, since his Alphas weren’t here, but the position was still uncomfortable after being forced into similar positions for so many months. His thigh, like always, also twinged as the doctors urged him to widen his legs so they had more space.

“Does that hurt, Gabriel?” the doctor asked as she probed the leg muscle with her finger tips.

Breathing deeply Gabriel whispered, “Hurry up and get this over with before I change my mind.”

She must have decided it could wait because, as professionally as ever, the two doctors started in. They were a lot better at this than any of the doctors from the first round.

“I’m going to remove your towel, Gabriel. Please let me know if you get cold.”

“I’m going to examine the rim of your hole now, Gabriel.”

“Please let me know if this is too uncomfortable.”

“Gabriel, I’m moving my hand upward.”

“You might feel a pinch.”

“I’m going to start the internal examination now, Gabriel.”

“Gabriel, I’m going to apply a cream to your entrance. It might sting.”

“Are you okay? Gabriel?”

“Does this hurt, Gabriel? No? Okay, how about here?”

“You’ve got some scar tissue built up here. Can you tell me how it got there, Gabriel?”

The questions and instructions went on and on until Gabriel was shaking and unsteady on his knees, his damaged leg threatening to give out.

He panted, inhaling his pup’s soothing scent with each breath. He was crying; he had been for a while, and the tears were dripping onto his pup’s swaddling.

“Okay, Gabriel. That’s good for now. We’re going to help you turn onto your side so you can lie down while we ask you a few more questions and run a few more tests.”

Unsteadily, Gabriel turned until his left hip rested on the mattress. They’d turned him so his bad leg was up, and the female doctor resumed messing with it while the male doctor rounded the cot and laid a blanket over Gabriel’s shoulders and torso before pulling up a chair by Gabriel’s face.

“We didn’t find any permanent damage to your womb, Gabriel.”

Gabriel’s breath caught, it sounded like there was a ‘but’ coming.

“But we want to continue to monitor you for a few more days just in case.”  

“I also want to add your leg to the list of things to deep scan… whenever you’re ready to undergo those tests.” The other doctor said, her eyes flickering to his face before returning to his leg.   

Bright lights flashed in his eyes, ears and nose before he could respond. After running whatever the hell that scan had been, the male doctor massaged Gabriel’s throat while the female doctor wrapped something around his upper thigh. It compressed and Gabriel felt heat. Meanwhile, the male doctor moved onto stroking his neck.

“Gabriel, can you tell me what caused this mark to rot?” the doctor asked. His tone implied that there was no right answer.

Shrugging, Gabriel told the truth. “Travin left it to rot.”

“Travin is?”

“My mate. One of my mates.”  

“But this mark?” the doctor ran his fingers along the right side of Gabriel’s neck. “It healed… rather nicely actually.” He didn’t sound admiring, more like he was deeply curious in the discrepancy between the two marks.

“Simian did a much better job caring for his mate mark.” Gabriel whispered as he shivered despite the blanket. Simian had been a better mate, but that didn’t mean he’d been good or even adequate.

“I see.” The doctor rose and came back with a small wrap, similar to the one on his thigh. “Is your throat still hurting?”

Gabriel nodded. So was his jaw, but it didn’t seem worth the effort to speak the words.

Having anticipated the answer, the doctor gentle maneuvered the wrap around Gabriel’s throat. It compressed slightly and then sent waves of cooling relief inward.

Gabriel nearly sobbed as some of the pain ebbed away.   

The female doctor picked up where the other doctor had left off with the questions. “Do you know which one of the Alphas sired your pup?”

Gabriel didn’t answer right away. He remembered being asked that before and he didn’t want to think about it now anymore than he had then.

Instead, he nuzzled at his pup’s face until the little love closed his eyes.

“You indicated earlier to Commander O’Neil that you didn’t know the answer. It’s okay if that’s still true,” the female doctor said gently as she came around to stand at her colleague’s shoulder.

Shaking his head, Gabriel finally said, “I know. Or at least I’m fairly confident it’s Travin. He never left anything to chance and with the way he talked… he thought my pup was his.”

Gabriel bit his lip and then touched his son on the tip of his tiny nose. The angel had opened his eyes as soon as Gabriel had started crying again. Gabriel wiped away his tears and smiled.

“But he was wrong. ‘Cuz you’re not his, you’re all mine, aren’t you? Yes, yes you are. Yes you are.” The pup squiggled slightly under the adoration before dozing back off.

“How are you doing with the longing?” the doctor asked abruptly, ruining the moment. “Is it still bearable?”

Gabriel shrugged even though his entire body twinged at the question. “For now. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to go without seeing at least one of them.” He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “The problem is being with one doesn’t solve the longing. I crave both, it’s not an ‘either-or’ thing.”

“But you think if you saw the one that’s being held here - Simian? - it might help a little?” the doctor asked, her voice soft and kind. Offering a suggestion without pressuring Gabriel into making a decision. Gabriel hadn’t liked her at first, but she was slowly growing on him.

He thought about her question for a moment. “Yeah, it might take the edge off. But I don’t want to see him until it’s absolutely necessary. And I don’t want the pup anywhere near him.” Gabriel curled closer to his baby.

“Do you think he is a danger to your pup, or to you?” the other doctor asked, his voice squeaky with surprise.  

“No,” Gabriel said without hesitation. “It’s not really about the danger… but I’m not comfortable taking my baby anywhere near him, not after everything he did to me.”

“Ah,” the doctor said as she backed off. “Do you think he’ll know the pup isn’t his?”

Gabriel responded instinctively. “No.”

He thought about his answer after the word popped out of his mouth, but didn’t say anything else. Gabriel truly believed Simian would go on believing Travin forever. About this, about him, about everything. Gabriel wasn’t even sure he could blame Simian for that; half of the time he believed Travin too.

Stupid fucking whore.

The male doctor must have decided it was time to wrap up because he cleared his throat and said, “Gabriel, you and your pup appear to be in good health. You’re obviously a bit underfed and exhausted, so I would recommend some more soup, or maybe a nutrient rich smoothie, and a lot of rest. But aside from that, I’m not worried about your physical health.” The implications about the specification of ‘physical’ lingered in the air for a moment before the doctor continued. “Please feel free to notify any member of the medical staff if you begin to feel at all unwell, no matter how small the issue.”

“And please let a nurse know when you’re ready for those scans, I’m anxious to get a look at the damage to your leg.”

Gods she was obsessed with his leg. Gabriel had been walking on it for months now, he knew it wasn’t that bad. Maybe if he gave the doctor something else to obsess over she’d drop it.

“And my arm.” Gabriel murmured.

Both Omegas froze. “Pardon?” the female doctor asked.

Gabriel looked up at her and then simply held out his right arm. The doctor rounded the cot and drew closer. She eyed the limb for a moment before glancing at him in askance. As soon as Gabriel nodded, she ran her fingers over his lower arm and turned it so the underside faced up.

“Oh,” she said, sounding heart broken. “When did this happen?”

Gabriel refused to meet her gaze. “Second trimester.”

“It will… I’ll…” she started and stopped a few times before getting the words out. “I’ll make sure they add it to the areas to deep scan.” She then added a third wrap to his arm that the other doctor had found for her. “Is there anything else we should be aware of, Gabriel?” she didn’t make eye contact when she asked, and instead concentrated on fussing with his blanket and tucking the edge around his legs.    

“No,” Gabriel said, and then took a deep breath. Summoning all of his strength and fortitude, he added, “You can send the Alpha back in. I’m sure he has more questions.”

He closed his eyes as the doctors departed and one of the nurses came back in. The Omega checked on him before tidying up the equipment the doctors had left scattered about.

A minutes or so later and the commander stepped into the room. As the clicked shut behind him, a roar rocked the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted on Saturdays.


	11. Regression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simian wakes up for the first time since Gabriel was rescued.

**Chapter Ten: Regression**

_Breaking News: This is Amy Kain with Station 71. I’ve just arrived at a medical facility outside of Brickton where Gabriel Latham’s killer is supposedly residing. We have confirmed that the suspected Alpha’s name is Simian_ _Molard_. _He was a respected resident of Brickton’s small, close-knit community and those that knew him are shocked. Station 71’s own Leo Villa will have exclusive interviews with Simian’s former friends and neighbors up next. Stay tuned for further updates._

 

Simian woke in pain. His head hurt and his entire body was sore. Confused, he tried to lift a hand but was able to bring it more than three inches off the bed. The bright light burned his eyes as he blinked rapidly, willing them to focus.

What that-? He was shackled to some sort of metal frame, lying atop a thin mattress. He was surrounded by unfamiliar cement walls. There were no windows; was he in a basement? It certainly wasn’t his den, this room smelled nothing like the bunker.

Looking around, he realized beeping machines surrounded him. He was in a medical facility of some sort.  It came rushing back to him. The labor, the annoying noise, the mobile, the explosion.

Where was Travin?

Where was his Omega?

Where was his fucking pup?

Growling, he laid back and started to scream in rage. Someone had taken his mate and his pup and he wanted them back. Now!

He roared as his muscles bunched and he torn free from the restraints keeping him tethered to the cot. Throwing himself forward, he slashed away the cuffs and tumbled to the floor. He was on his feet in an instant, heading for the only exit.

The door opened and Simian threw himself forward as it slammed shut. But not before a device was tossed inside. The room exploded with a now familiar bang and Simian was tossed backward.

He continued to roar in anger as Alphas flooded into the room and he was held down; Simian felt the sting of a needle and his world turned upside down.

The other Alphas floated away as Simian’s thoughts drifted back to his mate.

He dreamed of holding his Omega and their pup in his arms; Travin was there too. They were happy and together and everything was right in the world.

But as the drugs plateaued so did Simian’s vision; he was slapped with the reality that he had no idea where his pup was or his mate or his brother. They were all missing and he was all alone.

XXX

Cody was in the staff lounge with several of the commander’s team when the roar echoed off the walls of the facility. He whimpered and instinctively fell to his knees to make himself a smaller target. Cody went limp as a heavy form tackled him, wedged him under a table and pinned him to the floor.  

“Breathe, kid,” the voice murmured in his ear as Cody’s chest heaved but oxygen refused to fill his lungs. That roar was far too close for comfort.

“Did he,” Cody gasped, “Get loose?”

The Alpha snorted as he eased some of his weight off of Cody. Crouching over him, the officer didn’t move from his protective position even as he said, “Of course not.”

The pair jumped as the Alpha’s mobile buzzed.

“Fuck,” he said and crept out from under the table. “Stay there,” he ordered as Cody moved to follow.

“Cortez here.”

Cody listened closely, trying to hear the other end of the connection. Silently, Cortez opened the door and crept outside into the eerily silent hallway.

Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck. Cody thought to himself as the Alpha disappeared. When he’d insinuate himself into the case and claimed this spare office in the Alpha-approved wing as a base camp, he hadn’t realized he might actually be putting himself in danger.

Danger and glory went hand in hand, right?

“Fuck that,” Cody whispered out loud as he crawled out from under the table and ran to the doorway. He flipped the lock and then pressed his ear to the smooth surface.

Several minutes later and the door thudded under Cody’s ear. He leapt backward and his heart threatened to pop out of his chest as he waited. A second later and Cody could hear a curse and then a knock.

“Kid, you in there?” It was Cortez’ voice.

Cody nearly came in his pants from relief as he rushed to unlock the door and let the Alpha back inside.

“Thank gods you’re still here, don’t know what the boss would have done to me if I’d lost your ass in all of this mess.”

Cody wasn’t sure if he was please or annoyed. The warm glow of satisfaction won out and he smiled at Cortez.

“Sit down, corporal. I’m making a fresh batch of coffee for my hero.”

The Alpha snorted and mumbled something under his breath, but did as he was told.

“What happened?” Cody asked, making sure to pitch his voice with camaraderie rather than curiosity so he wouldn't seem like a gossip.

“The dark haired Alpha,”

“Simian,” Cody supplied quietly.

Cortez nodded. “Yeah. He woke up and freaked out. Broke free of his fucking restraints and everything.”

Cody couldn’t stop the tremor that coursed through his body. He’d met Simian and hadn’t been scared of him then; but that was before knowing that he was the Omega Slasher who killed Omegas who looked just a little bit too much like him for comfort.

Cortez glanced up at him. “Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ve had our people watching him the entire time and he never left his containment room. He’s already back in stronger restraints and lots more heavy drugs.”

Giving a shaky grin, Cody just nodded.

The corporal looked like he was about to say something else when a couple of other members of the National team entered the lounge.

“Is that coffee I smell?” Kirkpatrick asked with a tired smile.

“Why of course! Only the finest coffee for you,” Cody said with a wink as he poured a mug and sat it on the table in front of an open chair.

Dutifully, the Alpha fell into the seat and took a big gulp, practically puring. Meanwhile, corporate McGwain had grabbed a mug of his own and leaned back against the counter next to Cody. The room fell into an awkward silence.

Until McGwain pronounced, “This coffee tastes like shit.”

Everyone laughed as Cody shrugged, it as the medical facility’s bad coffee not his, and then gave the other Omega a conspiratorial wink. Everyone was still on edge after Simian’s outburst, but things would lighten up as time passed. Cody would make sure of it.

Quiet conversation started up and slowly it turned toward the case at hand as the officers speculated. Cody listened intently but made himself as unobtrusive as possible.

A few minutes later and the buzz of a mobile cut through the air.

“Kirkpatrick,” the Alpha said as he accepted the connection, his tone blankly professional. He listened for a moment before slamming his hand down on the table.

Everyone had gone quiet when he’d picked up the connection, but you could have heard a pin drop in the silence that echoed as Kirkpatrick’s face turned an angry red and he was practically humming with fury.

Cody lifted his coffee mug to his lips, eyes glowing in interest.  

XXX

Gabriel flinched when the roar rocked the building, Nurse Conner dropped to the floor with a squeak, and O’Neil’s hackles rose. His comms wristlet beeped and he answered it. “Report?”

“It’s the dark-haired Alpha, sir, he just woke up and appears highly agitated. Doctors are requesting permission to sedate. Please advice.”

“Incapacitate him, but see if they can do it without knocking him out. Over.” O’Neil said as his eyes drifted to Gabriel. The Omega seemed oddly unaffected by the violent distress his supposed mate was audibly displaying.

Or was he? O’Neil inconspicuously sniffed the air caught a whiff of grief and then it was gone. Glancing up at Gabriel’s face, all he saw was a blank mask; similar to those rape victims often wore.

Rape and abuse was so rare in their world; most Alphas weren’t capable of hurting an Omega, and Omegas were non-violent in nature with almost no exceptions outside of threats to their pups. This case was unique because it not only involved Alpha-on-Omega crime; it involved mated-Alpha to mated-Omega crime.

O’Neil could only think of three other cases in his Safety and Security textbooks that mentioned cases of mate abuse and all had involved serious brain damaged or post-trauma stress that had led to the Alphas, or the Omega in one case, to lash out unintentionally but repeatedly over the course of a number of years until medical professionals had managed to cure the damage or ease the stressors.

Only one of the cases had ended in death; the Alpha had struck his Omega too hard and then killed himself after his ever-faithful mate had died. The pair had been together for nearly 35 years and had a score of children, grandchildren and even a great grandpup. It had been a shock to the community as well as a tragedy caused by a horrible accident in which the Alpha had suffered major brain damage and been in a coma for three weeks followed by periods of mental fugue in which he’d grown violent. His mate had stood by him until the end, refusing to leave even when it had grown hazardous and ultimately ended his life.

But in this case, Gabriel’s mating with two Alphas, both of whom had clearly abused him or at the very least allowed him to be abused by the other mate, was unheard of. More so, it shouldn’t have been biologically possible.

Once mated, Alphas were drawn to their Omega. Even in arranged matings, where the parties either did not know one another or even when they hated each other prior to the mating, a connection still grew between the pair – it was called bonding, and involved unavoidable chemical reactions that always developed into emotional intimacy. There has never been a case of an Alpha overcoming that bond in order to rape, torture and impregnate their mate. And based on what O’Neil saw when he looked over at Gabriel, that was exactly what had happened.

Yes, Alphas had been known to treat unmated Omegas terribly; and though infrequent, rape and murder did exist in their world. However, there was no reported instance of rape and harm between a mated pair post-ritual. In the majority of cases of abusive or violent Alphas, they didn’t possess the ability to form a mate bond. Gabriel’s mate, or mates, were clearly fucked up. And they’d managed to fuck up a good Omega and kill many others while they were at it.

O’Neil looked back at the petite Omega lying in the hospital bed. He looked so delicate, fragile even. Despite bathing, he still smelled of sweat and blood and tears. O’Neil was glad Gabriel had given in to the bath and examinations because the doctors had been anxious but reluctant to sedate the boy. Thankfully, it hadn’t come to that.

Although now O’Neil had the added complication of Gabriel’s mate waking up.

“Stay here,” O’Neil barked.

Gabriel arched a brow, as if to question where else the hell he would go?

O’Neil shifted his gaze to the nurse, as if he’d been talking to him. “Don’t leave this room or his side.”

Nurse Conner looked as if he wished he’d been given any other task but meekly nodded as he followed O’Neil to the door. He heard a soft snick as the lock was turned.

Satisfied that Gabriel was safe for the moment, he stalked down the hallway toward the other side of the facility.

 

“How long has he been like this?” O’Neil asked, watching the struggling Alpha through a secured window.

The doctor shrugged. “Less than an ten minutes. He’s been crying for the return of his mate and pup.” Shaking his head, the Alpha doctor looked up at O’Neil. “You’re not going to give him back, are you?” O’Neil didn’t respond. “I mean, I haven’t been allowed to examine Gabriel, but from what the paramedics reported…” The doctor shuddered and glanced back at the Alpha who was straining against his retrains with every fiber of his being.

“Gabriel has expressed no desire to see his mate at this time.” Although O’Neil full expected that to change rapidly now that Simian’s melt down had reached the other side of the facility.

The doctor looked a bit relieved then his face saddened. “So this one is his mate? He responsible for the rot?” he was angry, likely due to the totally preventable scarring he’d been told about.

Apparently even threats of treason hadn’t been enough to keep the staff from gossiping. Gods, he prayed that none of the medical professionals were stupid enough to leak information to the media. Not only for the sake of prosecuting the Alphas, but to protect Gabriel’s privacy and future. O’Neil couldn't even imagine how bad it would be if all of this was splashed across digital screens nationwide.

Turning his attention back to the conversation at hand, O’Neil shifted. “No, the mark he made on Gabriel healed over nicely.”

“Ah,” the doctor said unappeased; pursing his lips, he continued to frown. “I’m going to have to sedate him again if he keeps this up.”

“Can you administer a mild tranquilizer instead? I’d appreciate an opportunity to ask him some questions.”

The doctor thought about it for a moment. “Yes, I could. Though, it will be difficult because I’ll have to inject him in the arm rather than gassing him.”

“I suppose my team and I could help you with that.” O’Neil said with a feral grin.

After spending countless hours searching for Gabriel, only to find him bedridden and in pain while trying to deliver a pup that had been raped into him, O’Neil was more than willing to pin the despicable Alpha to the bed while a doctor pumped him full of tranquilizing medication. He knew several Alphas on his team who would be equally willing; Omegas too, for that matter.

XXX

Simian growled and snapped as he was surrounded by Alphas who held him down. An Alpha in a white coat approached and stabbed him with something. Suddenly, his muscles began to relax and his frustration melted away.

He still longed to be near his mate. Still wanted to protect and shield his unborn pup. But it was now as if wanting those things weren’t as important as relaxing and listening to the nice Alpha.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“I’m not supposed to give that information to strangers,” Simian said, his head felt light but he wasn’t quite sleepy, more like he was extremely tranquil.

“But we’re not strangers. My name is O’Neil and yours is Simian.”

“Right,” Simian said compliantly. They couldn’t be strangers if O’Neil knew his name.

“Who told you that you shouldn’t tell people your real name?”

Simian just nodded.

“Was it Travin?”

He jerked. No one was supposed to know Travin’s name, not even their mate. “How do you know?” he whispered, not wanting to give away the secret.

“Remember, Simian, I told you, I’m your friend.”

Oh, Simian hadn’t remembered that. But the Alpha smelled nice, he smelled truthful. He also smelled vaguely of… “My mate?” he asked, anxiety pooling within him. “You’ve been with my mate?”

The Alpha paused. “I have.” He said slowly. “Can you tell me about your mate?”

Those words, the faint smell of Omega and pup, that was all it took.

Simian screamed and tore his arm from the strap keeping him down.

“O’Neil!” a panicked voice shouted. “Get out now! I’m going to gas him.”

Simian continued to bellow as the Alpha smelling of his mate and pup darted out of eyesight and a fog of purple gas filtered into the room.

It took sixty-six seconds before he passed out. It was supposed to take less than eight.    

XXX

Standing with his back pressed against the air-tight door, O’Neil banged his head against the metal.

“Fuck,” he said softly.

“Uh, boss?” Jones said as he tentatively approached.

O’Neil’s eyes flickered open as he leveled a no-nonsense gaze at his team member. “Yes, Jones? Do you have something to offer to the situation?”

“Uh,” Jones repeated unintelligently.

“Then fuck off.” O’Neil said and closed his eyes once more.

Everything was shit. Which was ridiculous because they’d caught the Omega Slasher; they’d rescued a living victim who was freaking Gabriel Latham; and no one on his team had been injured during the recovery. But even with everything stacked in his favor, O’Neil seemed to be taking steps backward.

The Omega Slasher was not one but two Alphas collaboratively working to kidnap, detain and… O’Neil still didn’t have those answers because Simian wasn’t coherent and he hasn't received an update from Cain, which his gut told him that was a bad thing. One step forward, two steps backward.

Gabriel was alive, yes. Great, another step forward. But who else was alive? The boy’s freaking miracle-should-not-have-been-possible pup. Eight steps backward.

Oh and his team, his wonderful team of locals and his own recruits were all safe and doing their jobs. A huge step forward, right? Wrong. Big fucking lie.

O’Neil was having a hard time thinking about the current objective because all he could concentration on was the fact that he’d left one frightened Omega and pup to deal with Simian - which had amounted to nothing - and now all he wanted to do was race off to find another Omega he was sure was also frightened after hearing that Alpha roar. Except, how could O’Neil forget, the last time he’d spoken to that Omega he’d royally pissed the kid off.

So, all in all, about eighty million steps in the wrong direction.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Maybe if he bashed in his own brain against this door his supervisors wouldn’t feel the need to do it for him. A man could only hope.

Jones cleared his throat and O’Neil turned his head to glare; he’d thought he’d managed to get rid of the other Alpha.

“That local kid, uh,”

O’Neil’s eyes narrowed. He and the corporal both knew exactly to whom Jones was referring.

Jones flushed and glanced down at his boots as he shuffled slightly. “He set up a private HQ in the lounge around the corner. There’s coffee and food and Neeva’s in there. So are a bunch of other people, if you’re ready for some report updates.”

O’Neil sighed and stepped away from the door. Giving his corporal a small smile he motioned. “Lead the way, Jones.”

The younger Alpha grinned and took off. Reluctantly, O’Neil followed. One step at a time, just like he’d told Gabriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters uploaded on Saturdays.


	12. Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return of Travin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra long chapter this week, enjoy!

**Chapter Eleven: Purpose**

_Breaking News: Our sources are now reporting that a second Alpha has been detained and is being held at a nearby high security prison complex. According to our eye witness source, the unnamed Alpha is blond and matches the video image of the serial abductor known as the Omega Slasher. Has Gabriel’s killer finally been brought to justice? Keep watching for more, on Station 71._

 

The man known as Cain shifted uneasily in his seat across from Travin as his earpiece buzzed. Travin focused on a brick behind the man’s head as the distracted Alpha proceeded to get up and pace the room.

“Something the matter,” he asked with a smirk when Lieutenant Cain turned to face him, eyes guarded.

“Your partner… Simian. He just woke up.”

“Hmm,” Travin mused, unaffected by the news. He’d known it would take more than a few Safety and Security officers to keep his brother down. Though it did alter his timeline a bit. Knowing Simian, he’d start talking with little to no pressure. Idiot.

“Where were we?” The lieutenant asked as he returned to his seat. The other Alpha placed his hands on the table casually, but Travin knew his relaxed posturing was a ploy to get him to relax and open up.

Mirroring the other man, Travin shifted in his chair, the one that was bolted to the floor, and folded his chained hands demurely in front of him. “You were describing how many years of confinement I’ll receive for my crimes and how,” Travis’s chin dipped as he shook his head in disbelief. “You’ll help me if I open up and share all of my deepest darkest secrets.”

Lieutenant Cain studied him for a moment before leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms.

Travin understood this posturing as well. It was meant to remind him of his own bonds and his inability to move more than a few inches in any direction. Not that it mattered. He and the lieutenant both knew exactly who held all of the power in this barren room.

“So as I was saying, we have all of the evidence we need to put you and Simian away forever based on our team’s ongoing investigation into the materials found inside of your bunker. But it will be easier on everyone, including yourself, especially yourself, if you give us the information we’re asking for.”

Travin smiled, though it was more of a bearing of his teeth. “Information relating to all of the precious little Omegas that have been disappearing for over a decade? No,” he leaned back in his chair, satisfied to see the other Alpha was leaning forward slightly, entrapped by his words. “No one cared enough about this worthless wretches to keep any eye on them when they were still alive. You don’t care at all now that they’re dead.”

Lieutenant Cain scowled and his jaw tightened as he glared at Travin. “People do care about those boys. All of them. There are people who loved them, communities that miss them. Those boys aren’t gone because someone accidentally misplaced them. They’re gone because you and your partner abducted and murdered them.”

Travin chuckled darkly, his eyes flashing under the bright lights of the sterile holding facility. “So you say, Lieutenant Cain. So you say.”

“So says the fucking evidence. Your DNA in claw marks, your semen found inside the bodies of underage children.” The other man’s voice was angered, as if it was a personal slight against his Alphahood what Travin had done. “We’ve already matched your DNA to the crime scenes of multiple victims. It’s only a matter of time before we tie you to the rest.”

Travin rolled his eyes. The lieutenant continued ranting but he tuned him out. None of that mattered; those Omegas had been sacrificed in the name of history. History that had prevailed and given him a child. A child that had been brutally ripped from his grasp moments before his birth. Travin’s fists clenched.

These Safety and Security officers would pay for that. That fucking Omega whore would pay. Simian would pay. Everyone who stood in his way would pay for their mistakes. Travin wouldn’t rest until his property was returned to him and his control restored.

“You’ve really got nothing to say for yourself?”

Travin lazily turned his attention back to the other man. “What would you have me say, lieutenant?”

The man stared at him for almost a full minute before answering. “I’d have you apologize. Admit you’re sorry for all of the pain and suffering you’ve caused.” He leaned closer, as if trying to reach out to Travin’s inner decency that he naively thought existed. “I’d have you tell me everything you did and everywhere you left a body. I’d had you give closure to all of your victims’ families. That’s what I’d have you do.”

Travin threw back his head and laughed. “You are a foolish child, seeking information you are not yet ready to hear.”

Lieutenant Cain glared at him once more and rose, towering over Travis’s seated form, trying to intimidate him. “You’re never getting out of this cell. Do you hear me? You’re going to spend the rest of your life locked up, chained like the beast you are.”

“Perhaps,” Travin mused. “But you seem to have forgotten a small detail.”

Lieutenant Cain blinked.

Pressing forward to share his secret, Travin whispered, “My Omega is going to need me soon. And when that happens, you and your team,” his rasped, his voice thick with malice and hatred. “Will come crawling in here asking me what _you_ can do for _me_. Begging me to sate that Omega whore’s longing. Pleading with me to save him from his own bodily desires.”

“That’s never going to happen,” the other Alpha snarled, slamming his fist against the table top. Travin had clearly gotten under his skin.

Travin leaned back in his chair, smiling to himself. “Come back when you are ready to hear my demands. But until then, be gone. I have much to do in the meantime.”

Lieutenant Cain’s chest rumbled in the beginnings of a growl, but another buzz of his earpiece stopped him.

“You’ve got nothing to do because you're chained to a fucking chair and surrounded by steel, concrete and hundreds of armed guards. Turning on his heel, he stormed out of the room. The thick metal door clanged loudly shut behind him.

“Hmm,” Travin mused as the room slowly quieted. “Ah, at long last. Silence.” He said out loud, closing his eyes and relishing in his destructive thoughts.

XXX

The staff lounge was packed by the time O’Neil arrived. Cody had really outdone himself making the space into a mini HQ complete with screens, secure mobiles, food, and seating aplenty. Almost everyone currently stationed at the medical facility was sitting around shooting the breeze.

How fucking dare they. O’Neil opened his mouth to start screaming when his furious train of thought was interrupted.

“Would you like some coffee?”

O’Neil did an about face and found Cody smiling shyly with a large mug of coffee in his hands. O’Neil’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he slammed his jaw shut. Attractive, he mentally kicked himself.

The Omega’s expression was carefully neutral, and his posture mostly relaxed, though he definitely had some extra tension in his shoulders. But it was the mug of blissfully hot coffee in his hands that was sending mixed messages if Cody was still mad. O’Neil wondered if that meant he was forgiven?

“Where’s Terry?” O’Neil asked gruffly, abruptly ignoring the Omega and his coffee as he threw himself into a chair next to Neeva.

“Still sorting through evidence at the bunker.” Neeva said without looking up from her digital screen and her own cup of coffee.

Was he serving them to everyone? Or was O’Neil’s offered cup special. He glanced around irritably. Damn, just about fucking everyone had a cup.   

“I want a report from him within the hour.” O’Neil fired back as he finally waved Cody over, pretending nonchalance as he watched the Omega set a mug of dark roast on the table in front of him. He didn’t bother to thank him as he shooed him away.

“Boss,” Kirkpatrick said, his voice strained.

O’Neil glanced around but didn’t see the Alpha anywhere.

“He’s connected,” Cody explained softly as he leaned closer to turn the screen so O’Neil could see his team member’s face.

O’Neil inhaled, marveling at the scent of honeysuckle and fresh linen. He forced himself to resist the urge to yank the Omega into his lap in an attempt to banish the chill that had been creeping through his body since he’d spoken to Simian.

“Report Kirkpatrick,”

“The media got wind of the arrest. We’ve already got one national station outside, and I’m sure others are closer behind.”

O’Neil dropped his head into his hands and the room fell silent. Even Kirkpatrick stayed quiet for a few moments to allow him to process the information.

“Fuck,” O’Neil finally said as he lifted his head and leaned back in his seat to stare up at the ceiling. “What have they got?”

“Thankfully, not a lot. They were obviously tipped off on the location, since they found the medical facility without any trouble. And they have Simian’s name and are apparently already running with interview of local residents who knew him. Most of whom will probably also report us talking to them last night.”   

“Do they know about Gabriel?” O’Neil asked quietly, not sure he wanted to hear the answer but needing to know to successfully complete his duty.

Beside him Cody inhaled sharply. O’Neil pretended he wasn’t hyper aware of the Omega as he waited for Kirkpatrick’s response.

“No, not yet.”

O’Neil’s eyes fell closed in relief.

“But that all depends on how long we can keep that information suppressed.” Kirkpatrick hesitated for the briefest moment before pressing on. “Everyone that’s gotten a good look at him will know who he is.” Considering how recognizable the Omega was and how many medical professionals had been examining him the last few hours, that was a lot of people. “I don’t know how long we’ll be able to keep that quiet.”

“It’s a good sign that they don’t already know we recovered Gabriel through, right?” Cody piped up, still standing just behind O’Neil’s shoulder.

“Or maybe the leak didn’t know it was him when he called the media,” Neeva said dryly.

Kirkpatrick didn’t respond right away, probably waiting to see if O’Neil would rebuke the Omega, but after Neeva’s comment Kirkpatrick continued without batting an eye. The dynamics between O’Neil, Cody, and Neeva being filed away for future reference.   

“Like Neeva said, it could just mean that whoever leaked the info doesn’t know we have Gabriel.”

O’Neil nodded and rubbed his brown. “Right, so we’re royally fucked aren’t we?”

“Yeah… pretty much. We’re all over the morning news across the nation. I’m guessing you have your personal mobile silenced, but mine has been blowing up for the last half an hour or so since Station 71 broke the story.” He hesitated before saying, “And HQ. I’ve been ignoring called from the powers that be in S&S.”

“Good fucking gods!” O’Neil roared and threw his shitty coffee across the room where it crashed against the wall, spraying brown liquid and shards of porcelain.

“Calm the fuck down,” Neeva admonished and O’Neil immediately regretted the action.

“Sorry,” he apologized to the room, aware of the faint smell of fear radiating from behind him. He’d give just about anything to take away the rank odor from Cody’s formerly lovely scent. Gods, forgive him for his idiocy.

“Sorry,” he repeated, and made eye contact with a few members of his team. None of them were overtly perturbed, but still, he shouldn’t make a habit of lashing out physically when untrained civilian Omega were in the room. “So yeah, between Simian waking up and refusing to answer any questions and this fucking media nightmare and learning just the surface level of shit that was done to Gabriel not to mention the fucking pup.” O’Neil took a deep breath. “And from Cain’s lack of updates I’m sure that other fucker isn’t giving him much. So, just… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“Now that we’ve resolved that fiasco… who the fuck is the leak?” Neeva said in her no-nonsense voice.

“It’s got to be one of the locals, yeah?” McGwain said, purposefully not glancing at Cody. Tension rippled between the two Omegas.

O’Neil slowly nodded. “If not an officer then one of the medical personnel,”

“What about a member of the cleaning service?” Jones asked.

O’Neil shook his head. “No, Terry had cleaning personnel cleared out before Gabriel arrived. It has to be someone on-location at the bunker or medical personnel.”    

Cody hesitated, biting his lip he made eye contact with O’Neil. “I was only on scene at the bunker for a few minutes,” upon O’Neil’s frown his quickly added, “After it had been cleared and both Alphas were already removed.” O’Neil’s lips twitched but he didn’t reprimand the Omega for putting himself into danger. “I heard a few of the other officers gossiping about Simian. They were arguing if it really was him or not, but the consensus was that it was him.”

O’Neil’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you think the leak was an officer?”

Cody immediately shook his head, but his eyes were doubtful. “Not necessarily. I’m just saying that after your team had officers questioning residents about Simian… well word spreads quickly in a town like Brickton. It wouldn’t be much of a leap for anyone to have called the top news station in the country. It might not have been an internal leak at all…” he trailed off and his eyes dropped regretfully.

Deciding to give him a break, O’Neil wrapped an arm around Cody’s waist to rub his lower back. It felt good, gods damn it. Too good.

“Uh, boss,” Kirkpatrick interrupted the contemplative silence. “That might all be true, but only our team, the local officers, and everyone at this facility knew we brought out a living victim… and that he was brought to this medical facility… that’s now completely surrounded by news cameras.”

Right. Fuck.

O’Neil let his hand drop from Cody’s waist so he could continue to rub his throbbing temples. “Do you job and take care of it, Kirkpatrick.” O’Neil snarled and ended the connection forcefully.

Most of the rest of the team scattered after that, all trying to make themselves seem busy and useful to the case before O’Neil could start asking what they were up to. No one else was brave enough to face his wrath. But as always, Neeva was the exception.

Neeva, never one to back down from a challenge, glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’d ask how questioning the suspect went, but I don’t want to get my head bitten off.”

O’Neil had to count to ten before turning to look at her. He was surprised by the thoughtful look on her face. “What?” he asked.

She leaned back in her chair, chewing on her lip. “Let me have a go at him.”

“Absolutely not.” O’Neil said immediately.

“Look, boss,” Neeva started.

“No, I don’t want to hear it. There is nothing you can say that will make me agree to letting you question him.”

Neeva grinned ferally.

XXX

“Simian, can you hear me?”

Simian was confused. It sounded like an Omega was speaking to him. Where would an Omega have come from? Simian inhaled, then turned away. The Omega wasn’t his Omega - so he didn’t particularly care what she had to say.

“Simian, my name is Neeva Jelani. I’m an officer with National Safety and Security.”

He continued to ignore the pesky voice that spoke in his ear. She was nothing more than a fly buzzing around the carcass of a rotting animal. He couldn’t move away from her - he was strapped down - but he could turn his head to he didn’t have to see her and be reminded of what had been taken from him.

Simian wanted his fucking mate back.

“Simian, do you know why you were taken into custody?”

He growled and tested his restraints for the thousandth time. “You took my mate!” he accused, turning his head to glare at the Omega.

“Your mate?” she asked, as if she had no idea what he was talking about. “Who would that be?”

Simian frowned, perhaps she hadn’t taken his mate. After all, all he remembered was waking up in this strange place after some sort of an explosion. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding. Simian relaxed. Travin would get this all sorted out and they could go home with the Omega and their pup. He just needed to sit back and wait for Travin to solve all of his problems like he always did.

“Simian?” the Omega pushed, leaning closer.

“Neeva,” another Alpha voice warned from across the room.

Simian returned his gaze to the small Omega. She wasn’t their type. Female, first of all. And she looked tall. He and Travin preferred them small and pretty. Travin was especially partial to blonds; the one time Simian had tried to pick out a redhead Travin had informed him just how stupid he was. Simian started preferring blonds from then on too, though it didn’t matter. After the redhead incident Travin had stopped taking Simian with him when he went mate hunting.  

The thought of his petite mate with his button nose and perfectly arched eyebrows make Simian smile. He wanted to sink his hands into the tumble of thick curls and breathe in the scent of his creamy, soft flesh.  

The Omega smiled back. “Are you thinking about your mate, Simian?”

Simian nodded. “I want him back.”

“Maybe I can help you find him. Can you tell me his name?”

Simian frowned and looked away. “He doesn’t need a name. He’s our mate.”

The Omega cleared her throat and Simian glanced back at her, but her expression was sympathetic. “Can you describe him, then?”

“Gorgeous,” Simian said and tipped his head back. “Soft skin, soft hair, soft mouth.” He started to harden just thinking about the little Omega. “He’s so fucking beautiful. And you should see him present!” He paused to breathe. “Travin doesn’t really agree; he thinks the Omega isn’t good for more than his womb, but I think that he’s good for a bit more than that if you know what I mean.” He grinned and opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling.

“Do you know how old he is?” the Omega asked, her voice remaining velvety.

Simian frowned.

“How about how tall?” she continued quickly.

Simian relaxed again. “He’s petite, with a waist that fits between my fingertips.” He thought for a moment. “Or he used to. He got really fat during his pregnancy.”

A sharp intake of breath made him turn his head.

“He was having our pup!” Simian announced proudly, convinced that’s why the Omega was startled. It was particularly good news.

The Omega nodded solemnly. “This is all very good information, Simian. But it would really help if I knew how you met Ga… your mate.”

Simian ignored her stutter, Omega’s weren’t known for being particularly eloquent, according to Travin. Nor would Travin want him discussing his personal business with strangers. He’d already used his name once when talking to this Omega… but only because that Alpha from before had said he already knew it. Fuck! Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Travin was going to be so angry when he found out.

Simian shifted uncomfortably in his restraints, whining slightly as a fresh wave of longing bombarded him.

“You have to find him,” he said, turning back to the Omega. “He’s in labor. I need to find my pup!” he said urgently, remembering the faint smell of pup on the Alpha from earlier.

All of his instincts screamed at him to fight to protect his pup and mate. To find them and shelter them until both were safe.

“Shh, Simian. Calm down.” Fingers stroked his hair gingerly.

The Omega’s gentle urging calmed Simian as he settled back and listened to her kind voice.  

“I promise we’ll find your mate, but I need you to answer some more questions. We have to work together. Can you do that?”

Dark eyes stared intensely at him until he nodded.

“What if we find your pup, what are you going to do with your mate?” she asked.

Simian rolled his eyes. “I want him to feed the pup, at least for a little while. And after… I don’t know. Travin takes care of all that.”

“Taking care of your mate is a good thing,” the Omega coaxed.

Simian fidgeted some more. “Travin says he’s not really our mate, he’s just the vessel we’re using to bring our pup into the world. But he’s a really fuckable vessel and I’ll miss him after Travin offs him.”

She paused before asking the next question. Simian wished she’d hurry up. Every moment she waisted as a moment he could have been cradling his pup.

“Travin is going to kill your mate?”

“Hmm, yeah. He wanted to do it weeks ago but I convinced him the pup needed more time. He tried again right before the Omega went into labor. He tried to send me away so he could cut our mate open and save our pup.” Simian shook his head ruefully. “But at that point I’d already decided I wanted the Omega to nurse our son, for a little while. You know, to make the pup stronger?” he was sure the other Omega would understand.

She must have because she didn’t press the issue and moved on. “Was that why Travin had to go shopping?”

“Yeah, he hadn’t left the apartment for so long,” Simian paused to think. “Since bringing back our mate, I guess. He doesn’t like to leave. I do all of the shopping and working. But I wasn’t leaving our Omega’s side until after our pup was born.”

“You call him your mate, whose mate is he?”

“Ours,” Simian said, eyeing the Omega. If she was this stupid she’d never be able to help locate his pup.

“Both you and Travin’s?”

“Yeah,”

“Can you tell me how that happened, Simian?”

Simian nodded. “Travin read about the duel mating in a book.”

“What book?” she sounded curious.

Simian preened. It wasn’t often he was allowed to be the smart one; he wasn’t going to let the moment go to waste. “The Tales of Malicai and his Mates.”

The Omega nodded, recognizing the popular myth of the first Alpha and his two Omega mates. “Yes, of course. But that was one Alpha and two Omegas, it’s been proven to be biologically impossible.”

Simian frowned, mildly upset that she’d interrupted his story and simultaneously confused him. “It’s not, um, bio- whatever; it’s not impossible. We did it.”

“But you and Travin are two Alphas with one Omega. Malicai was one Alpha with two Omegas, that’s not possible.”

“Oh,” Simian said, catching onto the Omega’s trail of thought. "Oh, yeah…” If she’d been clear the first time he would have understood better. Stupid Omega. “No, you can’t have two Omegas ‘cuz you have to bit them at the same time. It doesn’t work. No, that’s where the story is wrong. Travin found some really old book that proved it. You have to have two Alphas and one Omega; then you have to time it right so that both Alphas are ready to bite down at the same time.” He smiled at the memories of all the times he and Travin had gotten it right. “It has to be perfect.”He sighed and his eyes drifted closed.

“Can you tell me about it? The mating process. Why didn’t you and Travin fight over him?”

Simian opened his mouth but stopped. She didn’t sound or smell curious, but the question implied she was, right? After a long pause, the Omega resumed patting his hair. Simian frowned slightly, but decided to continue. He was too relaxed to fight and wanted to give this woman enough info to bring him his pup and mate.

“It’s difficult, you see. We’d tried it before, the duel mating. A bunch of times, actually. But sometimes we just couldn’t get the Omegas to accept us.” He glanced over at her as if it were her fault her entire half of their species wouldn’t fall into line under his and Travin’s whims. “That’s when we started drugging them.”

The Omega had gone quiet. It was as if she wasn’t even breathing. Then, “Medicine?”

“If you drug an Omega for a few days and then dose him with Alpha lust, sometimes he’ll still reject you, but sometimes,” Simian sighed and closed his eyes. “Sometimes he’ll accept.”

“What kind of medicine?”

Simian shrugged. “I don’t know. Travin handles all of that stuff. He found this recipe and spend years making it just right.” He blinked up at the Omega. “It wasn’t right, at first. It didn’t work. But now,” he grinned. “Now it’s just right and the Omegas always accept us.”

“If they accept you then why does Travin still… want new ones?”

Simian shifted. “None of the others were perfect. Some didn’t react well to the pregnancy meds. Others just didn’t get pregnant when they went into Heat.” He grinned in memory. “But now it works!”

“Is that what happened with Gabriel? You gave him lots of these special meds?”

Simian frowned. “Who?”

“Your mate, is that what happened with your mate?”

“Him and a few before him.”

“So he wasn’t your first mate.”

Simian shifted again, his stomach felt weird.

“I need to know, Simian, in order to find him. Were their others?”

“Yes.” Simian admitted, some of the weight left his chest. If felt good to talk to this nosy Omega.

“Good, good. Can you tell me about the others?”

Simian thought for a moment. “None of them were right. Most of them we could get to mate us, although a few rejected us. We didn’t keep them for very long.”

The entire room felt still as Simian spoke. It was as if all the oxygen had been sucked out except for a small bubble of air around his head.

“The rest were all wrong in other ways. Some of them got sick. Some just didn’t get pregnant during their Heats.” Simian turned to look at the Omega, her dark skin looked oddly pale. “Omegas only have one job, and none of the others were very good at it. Only our mate; only he went into Heat and came out with a womb full of our pup.”

Simian’s smile was goofy as he imagined his mate’s swollen belly, wriggling with his pup’s life. He’d wished he could have spent more time with his pup before the birth, but Travin had seemed jealous of Simian’s bond with their unborn child, so he’d backed off until the end of the pregnancy when his instincts wouldn't let him leave.   

The Omega pressed, “How many, Simian? Can you give me a number?”

“Ten or eleven. It’s hard to remember. They kind of all blend together.” Simian said dismissively. He only cared about his current mate and his pup.

“And you don’t know any of their names?” the Omega’s voice was edged with an emotion Simian couldn’t quite make out.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked, suddenly desperate for affirmation.

The Omega looked startled by the question. “What do you mean?” she asked hesitantly.

“You sound like you’re mad at me.” He repeated. “But I don’t know why you would be.”

She stared, unable to respond.

The Alpha, who Simian had forgotten all about, stepped forward. “Neeva isn’t mad. She’s just confused why you don’t know more about the Omegas you claim were your mates.”

Simian opened his mouth to argue, but the other Alpha rushed on.

“It would be a lot easier for us to help find your mate if he knew his name.” When Simian didn’t respond, the Alpha added, “Most Alphas know the names of their Omegas. Even the ones they’re not mated to.”

Simian shook his head. He wished Travin were here. He’d be able to explain. When he explained it to Simian it always made sense.

“They’re not really our mates. It’s just a simulation made by this medicine we give them…” the blank looks he was getting frustrated Simian. “It’s, it’s not real! It’s only so we can have a pup…” Simian thrashed slightly, distressed. “It’s science and medicine and history. Not real!”

“Think of your mate, Simian, tell me about him.” The Omega urged, her voice farther away.

Simian relaxed almost instantly as images of his Omega flashed across his vision. “He’s so perfect. His ass, his taste, his tongue. I tell you, I think all of our failures were meant to happen so we could find him. It’s why I wouldn’t let Travin kill him off before our pup was born.”

“So you liked this mate?”

Simian shrugged. “Well, I liked his taste. And the beautiful way he took my cock. But does anyone ever really like an Omega?” he grinned at the Omega, knowing she couldn’t possibly understand how weak her sex was. Simian’s head rolled as dizziness began to cloud his vision. “He was a good hole to fuck and a good womb to plant our pup. Beyond that he was okay. Prettier than our other Omegas, and he doesn’t cry as much. I think that makes Travin mad. He likes it when our Omegas are reminded of their place in the world.”

“And what is an Omega’s place?” the Omega asked, her voice icy cold as she continued to drift farther and farther way.

“Birthing pups and riding Alpha knots.” Simian said and smiling, fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be uploaded on Saturdays.


	13. Disgust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long delay between posts! 
> 
> Here's the latest chapter in Gabriel's journey.

Chapter Twelve: Disgust 

_Doctor’s Notes: In times of particularly high stress Alphas and Omegas may react to anxiety by becoming more amorous, or by withdrawing into themselves. Both can have negative effects. The latter does not allow for comfort or supportive communication. But the former can create a false sense of stress-relief without solving the cause of the anxiety._

 

Neeva exited to room. Not making eye contact with any of the Alphas standing outside, she crossed to a garbage can and promptly threw up. Accepting a glass of water, she rinsed her mouth and spit. Straightening, she wiped a shaky hand across her sweaty brow.

“You’re extremely pale, do you need to sit down?” the Alpha doctor asked quietly, approaching her cautiously.

“I’m fi-” Neeva started to say she was fine, but then seemed to realize she wasn’t, she really wasn’t, and instead nodded. As soon as a chair was within reach, she sat down heavily.

“That was amazing, Neeva,” O’Neil said as he squatted down next to her. “You got more information out of him than we were ever hoping for after the first try.”

“This backs up most of the evidence that’s been collected.” Jones said. “Lots of drugs and medical textbooks mixed in with folklore and mythical garbage.” He made eye contact with O’Neil. “Terry reported in while you were in with Simian. He’s headed back to review the information with you both.” Jones’ eyes flickered between Neeva’s downcast head and O’Neil.

O’Neil acknowledge Jones’ report as he urged his second in command to sip some more water. “This idiot isn’t the mastermind here. He’s a monster, but he’s not the brains behind this travesty.”

The room went quiet.

“We still have the other Alpha secured.” Jones finally said, aware of how lame it sounded.

O’Neil nodded. “Yeah,” the room went quiet.

“I’m glad you finally caught the bastards.” The doctor said, breaking the silence. “Ten Omegas over the course of the last several years decades.” He shuddered.

“Eleven,” O’Neil murmured. “Gabriel brings my count up to at least eleven. Possibly more, since that bastard couldn’t be bothered to remember all of the innocents he’s responsible for killing.” Silence over took the room, as if they were all lost in thought.

“He didn’t even know their names. Any of them. Not one of the names of the young Omegas they’ve taken. They’ve all been children.” Neeva whispered, breaking the silence. “He didn’t even know Gabriel’s name.” Her voice was so drenched with agony that the team started to shift nervously. They’d never seen her so devastated.

“The Omega who just gave birth to his gods damned pup!” Neeva’s voice had steadily risen and she was shouting by the time she finished.  

O’Neil reared back, he’d never heard her utter blasphemy before.

Jones settled a hand on her shoulder but she leaned away. It wasn’t in Neeva’s nature to allow the Alphas on her team to coddle her. She’d never have made it so high up the food chain of S&S otherwise.

O’Neil cleared his throat. “I need to shower and then get back to Gabriel. Earlier he agreed to a bath and a second check up and then asked for me. Hopefully he’s still ready to talk by the time I’m done.” He glanced at Neeva, who didn’t look up. “Have Terry wait until I”m back to give his report.”

Without waiting for a response, O’Neil rose and quietly left the room. It wasn’t until he was inside a private room with the shower, hot water steaming the air around him and beating down against his skin punishingly, that he let the sobs loose. Tears flowed down his cheeks, lost in the spray, as O’Neil mourned for all of the Omegas teens these monsters had destroyed, including the boy currently mated to them.

He was so sickened that he didn’t even notice the door opening or the soft rustle of clothing being dropped to the floor. O’Neil did notice when a warm body slid into the shower behind him and wrapped slender arms around his waist.

O’Neil relaxed into the welcome touch for a moment before turning and yanking Cody into his arms. Lifting him, he didn’t even check to see if the Omega was ready before ramming his cock up the Omega’s tight ass.

Cody gasped and arched in O’Neil’s arms, pressing his round behind closer to O’Neil’s pelvis while seeking friction. The motion drove O’Neil’s cock deeper inside of his body and O’Neil moaned.

The Omega had one hand above his head, the fingers fluttering as O’Neil’s palm gripped the slender wrist to pin him in place. Cody’s other hand was pressed against the back of O’Neil’s head as he ravaged his neck and upper body with merciless kisses. The pair rutted together until Cody spilled between them; but O’Neil wasn’t done. He continued to thrust deeply, grinding his hips against the Omega’s firm rear end until Cody was almost ready to come for a second time.   

Flicking off the water, O’Neil carried his horny Omega out of the shower and roughly pulled out of him. O’Neil’s cock throbbed in protest and the dark red tip pointed directly at what it wanted to reclaim. His juices leaked out of Cody’s hole as the Omega gasped and whimpered in displeasure.

“Haiden,” Cody gasped.

Ignoring him, O’Neil tossed the Omega onto a nearby bench and then roughly flipped him onto his belly. He drew up the Omega’s knees and swatted his ass before he bent him over so Cody’s head was level with his knees, his arms balanced in front of him, reddened ass wagging in the air. O’Neil slid home and ground his hips against the Omega’s impossibly round rear end, squeezing the flesh of Cody’s thighs as he pulled him tighter against his body.

“Oh fuck, Haiden,” Cody whispered as he came a second time.

Slicked up muscles clamped down on his cock in a vice tight grip made O’Neil bellow in satisfaction as he released. Panting, he leaned back against the wall, dragging Cody upright and wrapping an arm around his chest so he could cup the Omega’s neck. With his other hand he stroked the Omega’s softened cock possessively. Cody went limp in his arms, relaxing into O’Neil’s posturing as if it wasn’t almost unforgivably rude that O’Neil was still buried inside of him instead of on his knees, cleaning him out.

Cody reached an arm backward to tangle his fingers in the shorn locks at the back of O’Neil’s head. O’Neil couldn’t help himself; he started to cry again.

“Shhh, it’s going to be okay. He’s safe now; he’s safe and those beasts will never hurt him or anyone else ever again,” Cody soothed as he massaged the back of O’Neil’s head and neck and used his other hand to pet O’Neil’s forearm. “You found him and you brought him home. He and his pup are safe because of you.”

The Omega’s words were a balm on a long tarnished soul.

“He’s just a kid, Cody. Just a little boy who’s now saddled with a baby of his own.” O’Neil’s body shook. “He’s been hurt so badly and I’m afraid it’s going to continue to get worse. Especially with the media getting wind…”

“But you said they still don’t know who he is… that it’s Gabriel, Gabriel Latham that we rescued.”

Cody’s voice sounded overly hesitant, but O’Neil dismissed it as the Omega tiptoeing around his own state of distress.

“Yeah, but it won’t be long before he’s identified publicly. And even if we can keep it quiet now that the media has wind what we’ve got the Omega Slasher, _Slashers_ ,” he corrected. “Gabriel’s parents are going to be knocking down our doors to find out if their son is alive or dead. Gods, his mother is going to have my fucking balls over this.” O’Neil took a deep breath and Cody waited, petting his hair. The tension in the room was as thick as the fog from O’Neil’s steaming shower.

“Once I’ve notified his family word is going to get out,” O’Neil said quietly. “Civilians never manage to keep important secrets.”

Cody hummed as he swirled soothing patterns onto the arms curled around him.

Sighing, O’Neil moved to get up; the medical shower room benches were not comfortable places for post-coitus. “Come on, I need to get back to Gabriel.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Alpha,” Cody purred as he clamped down on O’Neil’s still semi-firm cock.

O’Neil moaned and helplessly thrust his hips forward to bury his cock further into the velvet heat of Cody’s ass. “Okay, I guess I can take a few more minutes to make sure we’re both extra squeaky clean.”

“You’re damn right,” Cody said, breathlessly.

O’Neil figured he wasn’t doing a very good job if the Omega could still form words. Shifting, he gripped Cody’s hips and felt some of the tension inside his body ease. Released of some of the pressure, O’Neil went to town on the Omega until they were both gasping for air.

Twenty minutes later and O’Neil was clean, dressed and the tension was back, worse than ever. He swallowed tightly as he closed the door behind him, shutting out the sounds of the still running shower and the scent of satisfied, wet Omega.

XXX

Commander O’Neil stepped into the room, his hair damp. Gabriel smirked slightly, now all three of them are fresh and clean. He cuddled his sleeping pup.

“Hi, Gabriel.” The commander said and took a seat. “Still not sleepy?”

“Sleepy is not the way I would describe how I’m feeling, no,” Gabriel said gently as he watched the Alpha; the commander looked nearly as exhausted as Gabriel felt. But they were both still going strong. “You spoke with Simian, didn’t you.” He asked.

The commander’s head popped up and then he glanced away guiltily. “I tried to wash away the scent so you wouldn’t have to smell him.”

Gabriel smiled at the unexpected thoughtfulness. “Thank you, you did a good job. I can’t smell him on you.” The Alpha frowned in confusion. “I heard him roar and then you raced out of here. I’m not stupid.” The commander glanced away and Gabriel sighed. “Even if I hadn’t heard the roar, I’d still know you talked to him. It’s the look on your face that gave you away. You found out some things that…”

“Sickened me.” The commander said softly. His dark blue eyes full of compassion. “I’ll be honest with out, Gabriel, what I found out disgusted me.”

Gabriel’s lower lip wobbled.

The commander’s expression fell and he threw his hands up. “No, not about you. Well, yes, that too. But what sickened me doesn’t have anything to do with anything you’ve done. You know that right? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Gabriel wanted to laugh; this powerful Alpha was babbling trying to reassure him that is was his monstrous mates that were disgusting, not him. He wasn’t sure he quite believed it, but he was willing to listen. It wasn’t like he had much else to do except for lie around and feed his pup. Gabriel glanced down at his sleeping angel and bit his lip.

Commander O’Neil cleared his throat and started over. “As I was saying, I confirmed information from Simian in regards to his previous mates.”

Gabriel glanced up sharply and searched the Alpha’s solemn gaze.

“I wasn’t the first, was I?” He asked, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.

“No, Gabriel,” the Alpha said, his gaze flickering to a spot over Gabriel’s head before returning to meet his stare. “You weren’t the first.”

“It makes sense,” Gabriel admitted, leaning his head back against the pillows. “I think I was mostly in denial of the reality that he and Travin have done this before, probably more than once.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t think about the past, neither mine nor theirs, if I wanted to survive one more day into the future.”

The commander looked down at his clasped hands and then nodded.

“How many? How many Omegas before me?” Gabriel’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “It was quite a few years ago, but I remember hearing about a few young, blond Omegas going missing and then turning up dead.” He paused, searching his rusty memory for details he’d ignored at the time because of his formerly naive and privileged existence. “I remember the one case, it was an Omega boy of only sixteen, seventeen? He’d been missing for a while, I think, but when they found his body… his throat was ripped out.”

XXX

“Sam. Sam Wicket.” O’Neil could barely say the boy’s name.

A face flashed before his eyes, a smile, a mischievous sparkle in his blue eyes. Eyes O’Neil had only seen grey and lifeless. Such a waste.

“Right, Sam.” Gabriel closed his eyes. “I remember that story. He was from a good family… and my mom had been worried even though I was a lot younger than he was at the time. But I already looked like the killer’s type. Petite, blond…”

“Beautiful.” O’Neil added, not as a compliment so much as a side note.

It was true; Gabriel was unbelievable gorgeous for an underaged Omega who was too thin and too pale after giving birth. It was clear to O’Neil that the boy would eventually grow into a stunning beauty if nurtured back to health.

“Yeah, maybe. I guess I probably was back then.” Gabriel murmured. “I didn’t know that’s who had taken me. I didn’t ever try to piece it together.” He paused to take a deep breath. “I never paid much attention to that stuff; I never thought it would affect me. I was Gabriel Latham… some stupid little rich boy who didn’t know how sheltered I was before...” Gabriel stopped again.

The pause was much longer and O’Neil let the silence hang. Both of them needed a minute; neither of them were ready to continue the horror story that had become Gabriel’s life.  

“How many others did they mate with?” Gabriel finally asked. “I know it can’t have been all of them. They were too pleased when I accepted the mate marks for it to have been too regular of an occurrence.”

O’Neil hesitated before answering; he figured Gabriel deserved the truth. “According to my research, you were mate number seven. As from what Simian has told us, were the first and only one they were able to impregnate.”

“Ah,” Gabriel said and looked down at his pup; the infant was sleeping soundly against his father’s breastbone. “Did Simian ask about the pup at all?”

O’Neil shrugged noncommittally. “Not really. We had him pretty doped.” His gazed skittered away from Gabriel’s. He wanted to protect the boy but knew he had to continue to be open or he’d lose what little trust he’d established

Hardening his jaw, O’Neil met Gabriel’s eyes and said, “He did mention wanting a pup several times when discussing the other abductions.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “He really, really wanted a pup of his own. He was just too blind to see that Travin was only keeping him around until he was able to accomplish his own goals.”

“You think Travin was going to kill Simian?” O’Neil blurted, surprised.

Gabriel nodded. “I’m positive he would have. Once I started to get between them, Simian was doomed.”

“You mean when Travin wanted to, uh,” O’Neil didn’t know how to say it without re-traumatizing Gabriel.

“Cut me open and free his pup from my filthy body?” Gabriel parroted his mate but couldn’t stop the unconscious jerk of his arm as he moved his hand to protectively cover the wound on his lower belly.

O’Neil pursed his lips but nodded.

“As soon as Simian stopped him from taking the pup early I knew it was over for both of us.” Gabriel laughed bitterly, a tear dripping down his cheek despite his best efforts. “I really thought I was going to die last night, when Travin tried to force Simian to leave for a heat lamp.”

A tear splashed off of Gabriel’s cheek onto his pup’s head, but the infant slept on.

“But Simian wouldn’t leave?” O’Neil kept his voice soft and gentle, two things that had been distinctly lacking from Gabriel’s life.

He took a deep breath and then shook his head. “No, it was very close to labor and the hormones kept Simian firmly attached. It was one of the few times I’ve seen Simian directly stand up to Travin.”

“That’s how we found you,” O’Neil said after a slight pause. “When Simian forced Travin to leave the apartment. The Omega at the store recognized him from the video of your abduction?”

“Huh,” Gabriel murmured. “I - video? Um,” his pup started to fuss and Gabriel adjusted to feed him.

O’Neil respectfully glanced away until Gabriel cleared his throat. “Well, I guess that’s a story I’d like to hear.”

O’Neil shifted and settled back in his chair, his eyes darted to the snuggled pup for a moment but then returned to Gabriel’s face. “Travin fucked up, his face was caught on camera when he abducted you, and his picture was plastered all over the media for months…”

 

“So that’s what did him in, huh.” Gabriel said weakly. “Caught by a teenage Omega.”

Commander O’Neil bit back the thought that Gabriel was also a teenage Omega.

A knock on the door interrupted them before either could continue.

The Omega nurse from earlier, Connor, stuck his head through the doorway. “Commander?”

“Be right out,” O’Neil said after checking in with Gabriel. When the boy nodded he stood. “I’ll be right back.”

“I know,” Gabriel whispered as his gaze was directed to the pup who was fussing again after finishing nursing.

In the hallway O’Neil was greeted by an entire team of doctors, several of whom he recognized and a few new ones.

Gods, now what? He thought to himself and he waited semi-patiently for someone to speak up.

A Dr. Kim was the first to step forward. Her badge read ‘internal-imaging.’

“Commander O’Neil preliminary reports on Gabriel’s physical health have us very concerned. We’d like to request your permission to do the deep-scans of his arms, legs and throat.”

O’Neil’s brows drew together. “Why are you requesting my permission? Shouldn’t you be asking Gabriel?”

Several eyes flickered around the circle of doctors before another Omega intervened. O’Neil recognized the man as the lead Omega administrator of the medical facility.

“We’ve provided emergency care to Gabriel up to this point… but as an underage Omega we cannot continue to run tests and scans without permission from a guardian,” he paused. “Or parent…”

O’Neil’s jaw tightened. “I see.” His voice was curt and his glare steely. “He’s refused parental contact at this point and I’m not going to push until absolutely necessary. I’ll sign the paperwork allowing the deep scans. If-” he glared at Dr. Kim, “You’re absolutely sure they can’t wait.”

She paused and looked down at her notes before shaking her head. “No, the initial scans showed quite a bit of damage to his neck and face, as well as his right arm and leg. We need to know immediately if surgical methods are necessary to restore any of the damage to his limbs or throat because that would alter our current method of care.”

“Which is?”

Dr. Kim glanced up to meet O’Neil’s eyes. “Time. Right now we’re presuming that time and light medicinal methods will health him.” She hesitated and made eye contact with a colleague before continuing. “But several of us think the deep scans will show higher levels of trauma that will potentially need surgical intervention.”

“Got it,” O’Neil said, rubbing his chin. “I don’t suppose I’ll be allowed to sign to allow any surgeries.”

The Omega admin shook his head almost too quickly. “No, that’s where the medical facility council has drawn the line at any permanent procedures without official guardianship or parentage. We’re willing to allow you to take responsibility for less permanent procedures such as the deep scans and non-emergency medicinal practices.” When O’Neil’s eyebrows raised in question the admin said, “Teas and ointments applied from here on out. Taking into account Gabriel’s current condition, the council has decreed emergency care to be finalized.”

Fucking bureaucrats, trying to protect their own asses, O’Neil thought disgustedly. But he understood. Gabriel’s mother was a scary, powerful, wealthy woman and she would raze this facility to the ground if she suspected they’d treated her son in a manner she disagreed with. The doctors and staff were protected under the emergency code, but that rule appeared to no longer be in affect.

“Yes, well, if we can have you sign here, commander,” Dr. Kim said as she held out a tablet.

O’Neil didn’t hesitate; his own ass didn’t matter in the scheme of protecting Gabriel and he trusted the doctors to investigate the deeper hurts the boy was suffering from.


	14. A Difficult Call

**Chapter Thirteen: A Difficult Call**

_Breaking News: Cynthia Latham was spotted entering her downtown office building this morning at her usual time seemly undisturbed by recent reports of Safety and Security operations in the small town of Brickton in the Western providence. Does this mean that Station 71’s reports of the capture of the notorious Omega Slasher are false? Stay tuned with updates from Trisha Howard’s desk, here at Station 77._

 

After a brief fuss, Gabriel’s pup nuzzled and then latched on to the other teat with minimal effort on Gabriel’s part. That was good, he wouldn’t always be around to give his pup what he needed, he thought as he stroked back the soft fuzz on his baby’s head.

“Oh angel,” Gabriel whispered as his pup’s eyes blinked open and a gaze as green as his own peered up at him. In that instant he knew he couldn’t avoid it any longer.

Kissing the top of the baby’s head, Gabriel prayed for the gods to accept his son and blessed him with a name.

Several minutes passed during which Gabriel prayed and moved his lips to the words of an ancient chant that had been buried in his instinctive memories. His throat and jaw hurt too much to sing the words, but somehow he knew the gods would forgive him.

Just as he was wrapping up, a click and the sound of the door being opened alerted Gabriel to the commander’s re-entrance.  

“Gabriel,” the sound of his name, still a novelty, made him glance up into the serious visage of Commander O’Neil. “The doctors are pressuring me to ask you to consent to the deeper body scans.”

Gabriel bit his lip and his eyes filled with tears, blurring his vision.

“I know you’ve been hesitant to agree because it means leaving your pup in a separate room. But I promise he’ll be safe. And you’ll be in a lot less pain once the doctors can determine exactly what’s wrong and how to treat you.”

Gabriel sobbed slightly and shook his head. “I don’t know if I want to know everything that’s wrong.”

The Alpha sighed, “Unfortunately that’s not really a choice. You need treatment.”

“I need my mates.” Gabriel whispered, reluctant to admit the words out loud, his entire body trembling in fear.

O’Neil nodded, he’d seemed to know that would come up again soon. “After. After the scans we can talk about visiting Simian.”

Several minutes passed during which the pup stayed silent and Gabriel cried. The commander stared blankly off into the distance, but otherwise allowed Gabriel time to process and come to terms with what was happening.

After all, it may have been phrased as a request, but Gabriel knew that it wasn’t really his choice. Nothing was ever his choice. It was only a matter of how hard he was willing to fight. And Travin had done his utmost to beat that fight out of him months ago.

Finally, his small sniffle broke the silence. “Okay.”

“You’ll agree to the scan.”

It hadn’t been a question but Gabriel repeated, “Okay.”

“Um, I’ll… I’ll go let the doctors know.” Commander O’Neil said awkwardly as he rose and shuffled out into the hallway. Gabriel could hear multiple voices demanding information as soon as the door opened and the Alpha stepped out.

The doctors were nothing if not persistent. The thought made Gabriel almost smile. Almost. But once alone with this thoughts, all Gabriel could do was stew in the nightmare of every little thing that could go wrong.

Less than two minutes later and Nurse Connor strode back into the room and helped Gabriel into a wheelchair and whisked him off to a new part of the medical facility. Commander O’Neil fell into step beside them.

As they entered a room with a variety of large machines, Gabriel caught a whiff of strange Alpha scent. Commander O’Neil must have caught it too because he knelt at Gabriel’s side.

“You’re safe here, it’s just one of the other doctors. She’ll stay behind the glass and I’ll stay right here.”

Gabriel shrugged slightly; he appreciated the heightened level of care, but didn’t feel the need to be coddled. He wasn’t worth it.

“The pup can be in the room with us, but he has to stay over here behind the protective field,” Nurse Connor explained as he wheeled Gabriel into the corner.

“Okay,” Gabriel whispered, nuzzling at his pup’s brow. Shakily, he placed the infant into a bassinet that had been left for him. Letting go was nearly impossible, but he had to or risk knocking it over when Nurse Connor dragged the chair away from the wall. “No one goes near him.” He said, making eye contact with Commander O’Neil.  

“Of course,” the nurse said patiently as he wheeled Gabriel toward the center of the room. “It will just be you, me, Commander O’Neil and the pup in the room; everyone else will be outside monitoring the equipment.”

“I’ll be right here the whole time.” The Alpha added, though he was careful not to step too close to the bassinet.  

Sighing, Gabriel was helped onto a padded table that was too eerily familiar to be comfortable and several gauges were attached to various parts of his body.

“Gabriel,” a voice called over the broadcast frequency of the testing room. “Your heart rate is extremely elevated. Is something wrong?”

He closed his eyes as Nurse Connor fastened his sore right arm and leg to the table so they’d be still for the scans.

“Connor, please hold for a minute.” The nurse stilled. “Gabriel, if you can’t calm down we’re going to have to sedate you. It isn’t healthy for your heart rate to be this elevated for no reason.”

Gabriel gasped a shaky breath, drawing air into his dangerously depleted lungs before squeezing his eyes shut and exhaling. He couldn’t breath, he couldn't breath! It was too much, too familiar. He needed out, he needed his pup!

Gabriel wasn’t aware that he was incoherently sobbing or yanking at his bindings until he bled. He wasn’t aware of the mask placed over his face or the purplish air that flowed into his lungs. He wasn’t aware that Commander O’Neil had started shouting.

He wasn’t aware of losing consciousness.

XXX

The pup started wailing as soon as Gabriel had started struggling. Nurse Connor rushed to sedate and secure Gabriel and O’Neil was left to conform the crying infant. Instead of calming, the pup seemed to struggle harder, his tiny face turning bright red. Several other nurses slipped into the room and he took that as his cue to leave.

Once in the hall he located the door for the monitoring room. O’Neil rocked back and forth  and watched the results of the scans start pouring in.

The Alpha technician glanced in his direction at the squalling infant, but wisely stayed quiet and went about his business.   

“Well, doc?”

“He’s going to need surgery,” said Dr. Kim, as she analyzed the results.

“Soon,” the technician added as he scaled up a shot of Gabriel’s arm.

“That bad?” O’Neil asked.

Dr. Kim nodded, pointing out several things on the scan. “His tendon here, this big one in his thigh, see? It was torn at some point and never healed properly. We’ll have to go in and re-cut it, then use a laser to seal it closed. And here,” she indicated another screen. “The bone in his arm was broken and set improperly. He’s lucky it healed at all; it looks like it’s been in used since the break, which didn’t help. ” Her next words were soft with sympathy, “He’s probably in constant agony.”

“Is there anything you can do about it? To keep him out of pain?” O’Neil asked.

The doctor nodded as she peered at the screen. “Another surgery. The break will need to be rebroken and set properly. Although it looks like we’ll have to scrape out some of the damage, remove the scarring from the tissue and bone, which will result in a longer recovery period.”

“But he will recover?” O’Neil pressed.

Dr. Kim didn't answer. Instead, the technician drew up scans of Gabriel’s hands and feet. “He’s suffered significant and repeated trauma to his appendages. Likely a form of punishment,”

“Torture,”  O’Neil said pointedly.

The doctor continued. “There are signs of some permanent damage here, especially in several of the fingers. I might be able to reverse, or at least diminish, these with surgery… but it’s not a priority and would have to wait until after everything else.” The doctor shifted uncomfortably as she glanced over at the facility admin.  

“As I said before, we cannot authorize either the leg procedure nor the arm surgery.”

“Why not?” O’Neil demanded. “Dr. Kim here just admitted he’s likely in constant agony!”

“Yes, but she also said it appears that he’s been using them in the meantime, meaning,”

“I can’t make the case that they are life threatening enough to need immediate assistance,” Dr. Kim finished, glancing up at O’Neil with a regretful expression.  

“God gods!” O’Neil exclaimed, stunned by their reluctance to aid Gabriel.

The doctor shook her head as she tried to maintain her composure. “Unfortunately he’s been… living, for too long in this condition; he’s too mobile for me to justify proceeding without…”  She glanced through the window at the still unconscious Omega in the other room. “We’re in a legal pickle here, commander.”

O’Neil followed her gaze, his eyes alighting on Gabriel’s too pale, too slender form.

The admin gestured at the pup in O’Neil’s arms as he spoke. “While Gabriel may have a pup, he’s probably going to be deemed legally underage. Our council is currently consulting with a member of the courts, but I think the lack of natural Heat will count as a point against Gabriel’s favor. And with the incredibly strict laws surrounding underage Omegas… What I’m trying to say is-”

“You need parental consent.” O’Neil finished, glancing down at the angelic face of the little boy he held in his arms. The pup had finally stopped crying when O’Neil had started shouting. Now the infant was staring up at him with familiar green eyes.

O’Neil desperately wanted to lie down, shut his eyes, and tune out the rest of the world. But he had a duty to Gabriel and his son, and taking a nap wouldn’t help either of them.

“Yes,” Dr. Kim said softly. “I’m assuming you’ve spoken to Gabriel about calling his next of kin.”

O’Neil hesitated. “I brought it up, yes.”

She eyed him warily. “He didn’t react well, I take it.”

“No, he did not.” O’Neil said succinctly.

“Fear can distort memories from before the trauma…”  

O’Neil shook his head. “You don’t understand. When I brought it up earlier, he panicked. It was horrible. I can’t put him through that again.”  

“I can’t even image,” the doctor whispered, then cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. “But I also can’t do more than basic emergency care for him without parental confirmation. If you don’t contact the next of kin I’ll have to get the courts involved, to see if they’ll authorize Gabriel to act as an adult or not.”

“And I’m not an acceptable stand in as a guardian? What about when I signed the paperwork for this procedure?” O’Neil pressed, surely the situation warranted some leniency due to the unusual - scratch that - unheard of circumstances.

The doctor shook her head. “No. As I explained, these scans were non-permanent and necessary to make sure nothing was eminently wrong internally.” She hesitated before continuing. “Perhaps if we didn’t know the boy’s identity, or if we were questioning it…”

“But that’s clearly not the case here,” the Omega admin added, quite unhelpfully.  

“Clearly,” O’Neil repeated as they all stared at a live display of Gabriel’s blissfully sleeping face. Shaking his head, he sighed. “I’ll contact the parents. Probably should have by now anyway,” he said darkly, thinking of the media coverage. “But until then no more putting him under again until it’s time for the operations. I don’t want him being repeatedly gassed only to be woken up half a dozen times just so you can run more tests.”

Dr. Kim looked at him out of the side of her eyes. “Let’s leave the medical knowledge and advice to the professionals, commander.”

O’Neil bared his teeth, but bowed his head slightly, deferring to the doctor’s best judgement. He’d fight tooth and nail to protect this boy and the pup he’d born into this world. Even if it meant facing the wrath of a team of local medical professionals.

Even if it meant facing the wrath of Cynthia Latham.

 

O’Neil stepped out of the room, watching the cot containing Gabriel disappear back into the heart of the facility, his chest steadily rising and falling in a rhythm as old as time. Assured that Gabriel would be fine for the next several hours, O’Neil steeled himself for what was next.

He had a lot of fucking work to do.

“Ready for this?” he asked the sleeping pup. Smiling slightly, he sought out the first nurse who walked by. “Do you have someplace where I can create a private connection?”

She immediately showed him to a doctor’s office. The doctor cleared out as soon as he saw O’Neil, telling him to take as much time as he needed.

It was good advice, since O’Neil was about to make the most difficult call of his life. Pulling out his mobile, he saw that he’d missed one hundred and eighteen connections; two hundred and eighty-two unread digital messages; and had fifty-nine new audio messages. Sighing, knowing it was all because the media had caught wind of the story from that gods-damned leaker, he pulled up a different number and hit the connection button.

A voice answered almost instantaneously.

“Who is this?” the voice demanded breathlessly, belaying the harsh words.

“Commander O-”

“Please hold,” he was cut off and transferred before he could even finish saying his name.

“Commander O’Neil,” the grief drenched voice of Cynthia Latham answered. Dammit. He knew he should have called sooner, but he hadn’t had time… or the inclination. He’d needed to stay with Gabriel and no one else, not even Neeva could have handled this conversation. Nor could he have made it in front of the Omega, not after the boy had clearly told O’Neil he wasn’t ready to face his mother and father.

O’Neil couldn’t say he blamed the kid, faced with the reality he was about to square off with the Omega’s Alpha mother.  

“The media is reporting that my baby is dead. Of course, this isn’t the first time they’ve reported such. So I need to know right now, Commander O’Neil is he dead? Is my precious boy dead?”

Fuck, O’Neil thought. He still didn’t understand why the media had believed whichever local had leaked the discovery of the bunker to the Omega Slasher. After all, Simian didn’t even match the video description. He became further enraged when Kirkpatrick had updated him on the media learning that they’d apprehended another Alpha, this one matching the description of the Omega Slasher.

Furthermore, why were they always fucking reporting Gabriel was dead? Sure, O’Neil had believed the boy dead himself… but he wasn’t nor had he ever been. O’Neil just didn’t understand the stupidity of people sometimes. Not that it mattered; he was sure it wouldn't be long before Gabriel’s identity was released. That leak would exponentially increase the difficulty of an already impossibly hard-to-solve case.

“Ms. Latham,” he began but was cut off as the Alpha who was always so poised for the cameras let out a single sob.

“Oh, gods, he’s dead isn’t he. I can hear it in your voice.”

“No, Ms. Latham,” O’Neil rushed on. “He’s not dead. Gabriel is very much alive. We found him. I found him. He’s alive. I’m at the medical facility with him now.”

The pup woke and started to squirm; he must have sensed the mild distress in O’Neil’s scent. O’Neil rushed to calm the pup as he gathered his thoughts. He had intended this conversation to go more smoothly than it currently was. But even the best laid plans flew out the window when it came to this case.  

The other end of the connection went eerily quiet before Ms. Latham’s harsh tone filled the silence. “Something’s wrong. Something is very wrong. I can hear _something_ in your voice. Explain yourself!”

“Ms. Latham,” O’Neil didn’t know how to respond. She was expecting the worst. Alive didn’t mean whole. It didn’t mean stable. It didn’t even guarantee that he’d continue to live. It only meant that her missing child wasn’t dead at the moment in time she’d asked the question.  

“Gabriel is alive and he appears to be in stable condition, although they’ve recommended a few procedures that will improve his quality of life.”

“Don’t let those backwater imbeciles who call themselves doctors lay a single finger on my son,” her voice had regained its normal level of haughty confidence and superiority.

“Of course, ma’am.” O’Neil said solemnly; he knew his duty and the codes that governed their society well. The stupid admin had just explained it to him well enough.

He paused as he heard a sharp intake of breath in the background; but otherwise the other Alpha didn’t make another sound. Not sure how to break the news, he finally admitted, “I don’t know how to say this to you.”

This really wasn’t a call he wanted to be making. He wasn’t even sure he believed it was ethical to discuss Gabriel’s condition when Gabriel himself should be able to inform his mother when he was ready. Which he obviously wasn’t the last time O’Neil had asked.

But O’Neil’s hands were tied; Gabriel was underage and therefore legally a minor despite his mating and subsequent fatherhood. The doctor was right; O’Neil had to tell Ms. Latham what was going on. If for no other reason than he needed her permission to help Gabriel stop hurting. That was a good enough reason, he decided.   

“Spit. It. Out. Now!” The older Alpha demanded, her voice growing dangerous. She wasn’t just in Alpha mode, she was in mama-Alpha mode.

“He was pregnant. When we found him, Gabriel was in labor.” O’Neil ran a hand down his face and then rubbed the pup’s belly soothingly. The infant squirmed silently under the gentle affection.

Ms. Latham didn’t react how O’Neil expected. “Was?” she asked, her voice dropping gravely soft.

O’Neil couldn’t judge her thoughts based on that tone. “He, uh, gave birth, a, a few hours ago… The pup is healthy.” O’Neil blurted, unsure of what else to say to the new grand-Alpha.

“I don’t care about some gods damned demon pup!” she screamed and O’Neil flinched, smoothing his palm protectively over the infant. “How is my son?”

Angered, O’Neil matched her tone and his voice steadily rose in volume as he continued. “As I said, he’s fine. But you need to start caring about this pup because your son cares! He nearly took my head off when I tried to remove the newborn because I was afraid he’d turn on the pup much like you’re turning on him now. Instead he’s remained protective to the point where he’s barely let the doctors even examine the child because he’s been too afraid to let go.”

The other end of the line was scary quiet.  O’Neil paused to drawn in a breath and tried his best to calm down.

Speaking a reasonable tone, he tried again. “Your son isn’t the same child that was taken from you. He’s been traumatized for almost two years, and now, somehow, he’s a father. He’s scared and confused and hurt and… and he’s going to need all of the support he can get.”

Ms. Latham didn’t respond to anything O’Neil had said. Instead she demanded, “What facility is he being held at?”

“If you transfer me back to you assistant, I’ll give him the address. I think you should call your mate. I’m sure he’s very worried.” O’Neil tried to say gently.  

Ms. Latham was having none of it. “I’ll worry about my own Omega, commander,” she sneered, but a moment later a click signaled that she was gone and the voice from before was demanding an address.

Obviously Cynthia’s assistant had been listening in. Either she was assured of his loyalty or his fear of the results of potential betrayal. Unsure about the consequences of what he was doing but unable to do anything else, O’Neil reluctantly handed over the address for the private facility in Brickton.


	15. Clues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel's pup finally get's his name.

**Chapter Fourteen: Clues**

_Doctor’s Notes: Omegas are often reluctant to allow other Alphas (exception being their own mate) near their newborns. Close family members such as Alpha parents and siblings are even considered a possible threat to new Omega parents. Oppositely, Omega hormones draw other Omegas to new parents and pups to nurture and protect._

 

Exhausted from his call with Cynthia Latham, O’Neil headed for the break room and coffee. Instead he found Terry and Neeva waiting for him.

“Sir, I’m ready to report on preliminary findings from the bunker.”

O’Neil closed his eyes but nodded. Opening his eyes, he took a seat at the table and waited for Terry to begin.

“Do you really think we should be having this conversation in front of the pup?” Terry asked nervously, his dark eyes flickering between O’Neil and the infant.

Neeva rolled her eyes but gestured for O’Neil to do something.

Looking around, O’Neil’s gaze fell on Cody. He’d be good at watching the pup. He was an Omega after all and could be trusted. Standing, he handed the Omega the infant and urged him to leave the room. As soon as he knew the pup was secure, O’Neil returned to his discussion with Neeva and Terry.

“Now, report.”

XXX

Cody was roughly yanked out of his investigation into the media coverage currently sweeping their small town by a gruff voice and a warm body.

“Here, take him will you.” Haiden said and thrust a pup into Cody’s arms. “Get out and get some fresh air or something.”

Cody sputtered for a second but was ignored as the oh-so-important commander huddled around a table with his second in command and her assistant. Glaring at his lover’s back, Cody rose and headed for a small courtyard that was in the center of the medical facility. Flopping onto a bench, he laid the soft bundle of flesh and swaddling on his lap.

“What are you looking at?” he asked the pup, who was staring up at him with impossibly green eyes. Smiling slightly, Cody brushed back the golden fuzz on the top of the baby’s head. “I guess you’re kind cute, for a monster’s brat.”

Almost as if the pup understood him, the little wretch made an adorable coo and a horrible stench filled the air. Cody gagged as the liquid mush seeped through the swaddling and covered his legs.   

“Good gods! Are you not even wearing a nappy?”

But of course he wasn’t, because his father was a teenager and a victim of a horrible experience. Immediately guilt ridden, Cody removed the soiled swaddling and did his best to wipe the pup down before removing his shirt and wrapping the happily squiggling pup in it and carrying him inside.

Several of Haiden’s S&S team saw him in the hallway and snorted amongst themselves. Having none of it, Cody threatened, “If you don’t get out of my way I’m going to fling what’s left on my pants at you,” with his sweetest smile.

The snickering Alphas quickly scattered and Cody made it to the locker room without further difficulty.

Once they were both naked, Cody made sure to adjust the shower temperature to a level he figured would be safe for the pup and stepped inside. He was afraid to use soap on the little guy, so he just rinsed them both down. Stepping out, he patted the pup dry and looked around for something to re-swaddle him in.

Unfortunately, a locker room meant for elite S&S forces was not a ripe environment for infant swaddling. Instead, Cody raided Haiden’s overnight back, picking it out by the smell, and dressed himself in a hugely oversized shirt that was definitely on the wrong side of clean.

“Why would he even back this if it was dirty?” Cody asked the pup as he scooped him up and drapped a towel over him.

The pup gurgled in response before promptly falling asleep.

Cody paused, standing completely still for a moment in the empty locker room, inhaling the scent of Alpha and pup. He relished in the comfort of the pup’s warmth and the security he felt wearing Haiden’s shirt.

He could almost picture what that life would look like: the warmth in his belly as his pup moved inside of him; the smiles on his parents’ faces as they realised they were going to be grandparents; the pride in Haiden’s eyes as he announced that Cody was carrying...

“Fuck me,” he murmured as he squeezed his eyes closed.

This wasn’t his life. Would never be his life. Cody had made damn sure of it and the credits that had been deposited into his account less than two hours ago had set that decision in stone. Regret threatened to knock Cody off of his feet. But he swallowed hard and gritted his teeth. He was a big boy, and he’d known what he was doing. Just maybe he hadn’t thought through all of the lasting complications and potential consequences.

Sighing, he left the locker room in search of a nurse. He needed to get the fuck away from this wiggling bundle of innocently hopeless regret.

XXX

O’Neil rubbed his jaw and then his eyes. He was exhausted, but after what Terry had just told him O’Neil knew sleep was a long ways off.

“So what you’re telling me is that Travin Jenkens née Asheton is the son of the Mad Alpha Abraham Asheton.”

“Yes,” Terry said slowly.

“The Mad Alpha as in the man who was trying to create an elixir of immortality by experimenting on his son… Travin?”

“Yes,” Terry said again, closing his eyes and rubbing the crease between his brow.

“And that, even after the Mad Alpha was caught and his Omega fled with her son - and apparently remarried?” Neeva continued, pausing for clarification.

“Remarried Samuel Molard, an Alpha thirty years her senior.”

“And presumably the father of Simian Molard,” O’Neil added.

Neeva nodded and continued. “After all of that Travin apparently decided to resurrect - no pun intended - his father’s work into imporality and roped his younger brother into helping him.”

“That’s the way it would seem, yes.” Terry said, opening his eyes.

O’Neil leaned back in his chair and started at the ceiling for a moment. “What were Travin and Simian’s plans for what to do with the pup once they had him?”

Terry cleared his throat, “Well I think it’s safe to say - between the evidence I found in the bunker and what I reviewed of Neeva’s conversation - that Simian planned on raising the pup alongside his brother.” When no one spoke to interject, Terry continued. “But Travin on the other hand, well, he was already planning out ways in which he could use a child of his knot to grant himself ‘everlasting life.’”

“Gabriel was certain that Travin was going to kill Simian shortly after he killed Gabriel.” O’Neil added quietly.

Terry nodded. “I think the only reason he kept Simian around as long as he did was so that he wouldn’t run the risk of being recognized while going into town.”

Neeva pulled up something on her hand held and handed it to O’Neil. “Travin has a serious record going back to the time when he and Simian were small pups.

O’Neil looked at her sharply.

“They were questioned in the disappearance of a six year old Omega boy, who was one of Simian’s playmates. Apparently the two had a fight the morning before the Omega child’s disappearance over a toy. Travin stepped in and took his brother home. But only a few hours later and the Omega child was gone.”

O’Neil and Terry started at Neeva in horror.

“Did they have any other suspects?”

“Yes,” Neeva said shaking her head in disapproval. “The local S&S barely even looked; they thought it was a case of parental kidnapping. The Omega mother had left the Alpha mother and taken the little boy less than a month prior and there was an ongoing court battle. Since the Alpha mother didn’t seem concerned when S&S spoke to her, the investigating officers stopped looking.”

“But not before questioning Travin and Simian.”

“Right,”

“How old was Travin? He had to have been at least ten right?”

Neeva swallowed hard. “He was nine.”

O’Neil leaned back in his hair again and stared up at the ceiling.

“Did they ever find the Omega child?” Terry asked.

Neeva sighed and flipped to something else on her screen. It was an updated incident report with a timestamp of less than an hour prior.

“The incident record from thirty plus years ago didn’t say, so I sent Leila from Division AE to speak to both parents. The Omega mother was unwilling to say much; Leila said that she caught the woman preparing breakfast for her three new children and a pack of grandpups.”

“And the Alpha mother?”

“The Alpha mother was distraught; Leila said she blames herself for being the prime suspect and ending the investigation. At the time she believed her former mate was hiding their son in order to get custody of him. But the boy has never resurfaced and she’s convinced that something terrible happened to him.”

O’Neil cleared his throat. “What did the boy look like?”

Neeva pursed her lips but flipped to an image and enlarged it. Staring back at O’Neil was a cherub faced little boy with curly blond hair and the biggest blue eyes he’d ever seen.

“Something terrible definitely happened to him.”

 

O’Neil sent Terry off for a much needed break and spoke to Neeva quietly before allowing anyone else back into the break room.

“I want you to go back to the bunker and look deeper into Travin experiments.”

Neeva stared at O’Neil in shock. “What am I looking for exactly?”

“His research on this immortality elixir… and how to forcibly bond and impregnate an underaged Omega.”  

The look she gave him was half fearful and half disgusted.

“Neeva,” O’Neil said, setting a hand on her shoulder. It appeared to take a lot of effort on her part not to shake him off. “His research succeeded once,”

“I know,” she said darkly and pulled away.  

“Neeva,” O’Neil said again and gripped both of her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “I need you to go back to that bunker and find all of the evidence of exactly what he did and how he did it.”

“That goes against everything I believe in. I will not help hurt other Omegas.” She said fiercely, defiantly glaring up at him.

“I know.” O’Neil said, releasing her. “That’s the point.”

Neeva blinked and then her expression cleared. She appeared to be deep in thought for a moment before nodding. “Okay, I understand.”

“Good. I’m sending you alone. The locals will continue to guard the perimeter but everyone else is needed here to secure both Alphas.”

“Both?” she asked, fear creeping into her voice.

O’Neil nodded reluctantly. “Gabriel says he need them… both of them. The longing is starting to get to him.”

“Dear gods,” Neeva said and prayed as she turned shakily away and strode out of the room.

“Commander,” Jones said, sticking his head inside of the break room. “Cain is trying to get ahold of you.

O’Neil glanced down as his wrist unit and sighed. “Thank you corporal.”

XXX

Gabriel groggily fought to regain consciousness. He was sore and tired and all he wanted to do was give into the sedation and go back to sleep. But his instincts were instead screaming at him to wake up.

When he was finally able to force his eyes open, Gabriel realized he was back in his hospital room. That was good, this room was safe. But he also confirmed what his nose had already told him: his child was missing.

Gabriel sat up with effort he shouldn’t have been able to muster on his own and struggled to get off the cot. In the end, he basically flopped himself onto his side and rolled onto the floor. He slapped the tile below and cracked his knee hard against the side of the cot. Ignoring the pain, Gabriel dragged himself to his feet and used a rolling table to shuffle toward the door. Before he could reach it, a disgruntled Omega stepped inside.

The other man was wearing an oversized shirt and no pants and was grumbling. His scent wasn’t familiar, but the faint trace of Alpha scent clinging to the Omega’s shirt was.

The Omega continued to grumble as he cross the room to the bassine in the far corner. “Stupid medical staff refusing to do their jobs and forcing me to haul you around. How hard can it be to watch over a baby. It’s not like you do much.”

Despite his words, Gabriel watched as the stranger gently tucked his pup into the bassinet and checked to make sure the pup was okay before straightening and continue to gaze down at his face for a long moment.

Gabriel coughed.

The other Omega jumped ten feet into the air and spun around, his eyes wide.

“Oh gods, it’s you.” He said, continuing to stare.

“Can I have my pup?” Gabriel asked, his entire body trembling. He wasn’t sure he had enough energy left in him to make it across the room in his current condition.

“Um,” the other Omega started, wringing his hands. “Sure. But let’s get you back into bed first. Something tells me you’re not supposed to be up and moving around.”

Gabriel was tucked back into his cot with the same level of begrudging care as his pup had been before the Omega retrieved the pup and placed him gently into Gabriel’s arms. He them made a move as if to leave.  

“I’m Gabriel, by the way,” Gabriel offered, nuzzling his sleeping angel.

The Omega hesitated, not quite meeting Gabriel’s eye as he said, “Cody.”

“Do you want to stay, Cody?”

“I-” the Omega’s eyes darted around and landed on the door.

“Please?”

Shoulders slumping, Cody acquiesced. He gingerly sat in the seat next to Gabriel’s cot.

“Thank you for taking care of my pup,”

Cody snorted and his eyes met Gabriel’s briefly. “Yeah, well he pooped all over my uniform!”

“Are you with S&S?”

“Yeah, the local division.”

Gabriel took a moment to digest this. “So that’s why you don’t have any spare clothes here?” his gaze flickered to Cody’s bare legs.  

Cody glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest, making the fabric ride up even higher.  

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not wearing pants right now either,” Gabriel said with a tired grin.   

Cody smirked and dropped his arms to tug the shirt lower. “I couldn’t find any that fit in the locker room,”

“And the nurses refused to let you borrow a pair of scrubs?”

Cody’s expression blanked and he stared at Gabriel for a long moment. “You know, I never even thought to ask!”

Gabriel giggled and Cody let out a chuckle. Soon the pair had tears dripping down their faces as they tried to regain their composure.

The pup had woken up from all of the commotion and Gabriel moved to feed him. Struggling with his gown, he was surprised when Cody stepped in to help.

“Here,” the older Omega said as he tugged at the fabric covering Gabriel’s teats.

“Thank you, Cody,”

Warm brown eyes met Gabriel’s own and the Omega smiled slightly before backing away. “You’re pup is beautiful,”

“Thank you,” Gabriel said, preening as he stroked his pup’s cheek.

“Do you have a name picked out?” Cody asked quietly as he stared down at the pup with a fond expression on his face.

Gabriel smiled, “Aiser.”

Cody nodded. “That’s a good name.”

“He’s going to be a good Alpha,” Gabriel agreed.  

Cody reached to brush the hair back from the pup’s face and then patted Gabriel’s hand. They continued to talk in hushed voices so not to disturb the tiny pup. That was how Commander O’Neil found them when he entered the room half an hour later.

“Haiden,” Cody said, sitting back in his chair.

Gabriel didn’t miss the heated look the Alpha gave the other Omega. But when Commander O’Neil turned his gaze on Gabriel all that remained was concern.

“You doing okay, Gabriel?”

Gabriel smiled slightly and nodded.

“Good, good.” The commander paused for a moment, his hands on his hips and then said, “Cody, a word?”

“Sure,” the other Omega said and rose.

The Alpha stepped out of the way to allow Cody to pass; once they were gone Gabriel found himself all alone again. His smile slipped from his face and he leaned his head back against his pillows.


End file.
